


The Boys Are Back

by PurpleSummer666



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, BAMF Harley Keener, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony Stark, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Harley Keener & Peter Parker Friendship, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Adopted Child, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Harley Keener-centric, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker-centric, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Harley Keener, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Time Travel, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 58,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22649320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleSummer666/pseuds/PurpleSummer666
Summary: Doctor Reilly Richards and Doctor Evan Edwards break out of 177A Bleecker Street NY in 2009 and start to climb the ladder at Stark Industries.ORThe Time Travel Fic we all need and want.The Fic is better than the summary I swear, I just don’t want to give too much away.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 117
Kudos: 251





	1. And They Have No Idea What They're Getting Into

**Author's Note:**

> Reilly is pronounced as Riley
> 
> New chapters every Monday and Thursday mornings Australia Eastern Time.
> 
> For everyone else that's Sundays and Wednesdays 
> 
> Noon Pacific Time  
> 3PM Eastern American Time  
> 8PM UK Time

**NYC 2007**   
**177A Bleecker Street**

****

In a long-forgotten corner in the depths of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the air started to hum and ripple, static filling the room. A bright flash of light engulfed every inch in an instant before imploding in on itself. Two young men spat out from the focal point, tumbling onto the dusty floor along with their backpacks and a pocket watch encased in metal and glass.

Groaning from the fetal position one of the boys with hair that curled at the ends turned to face the other.

“Evan, what the hell man? I feel like I’ve been crushed by a building... and trust me, _I know what that feels like!_ ”

The other boy, taller with blue eyes had already gotten up, dusted himself off and picked up the device that clattered on the floor next to them where they fell.

“Dramatic much? I’m the one that dragged both of our sorry asses here and you don’t hear me complaining Princess, now get up. We have to get out of here before anyone catches us. If I portal they’ll definitely know we’re here and track us down eventually Ry.”

“Pfffft as if they don’t know we’re here already? I’m pretty sure the bright light that threw us up would've set off some kind of alarm bells Mr. Sass.” Reilly complained as he picked himself off the floor before tapping his right temple twice and panning around in a full circle.

“One, the wards of the sanctum don’t work like that. They’re designed to alert the head if anyone tries to portal into the building from the outside or another dimension, both of which we didn’t, _we were already here_ and two, even if they could detect the energy the artifact emits which I highly doubt, I encased it in Vibranium before we left and laid void fields around the entire thing just to be sure,” Evan explained as he examined the device in his hands. “Alright it looks stable so the trip mustn’t have damaged the casing, we should remain undetected. Anything on your end?”

“Initial visuals are clear; I’ve routed an exit path that should keep us from running into anyone,” Reilly replied before tapping his temples again and leading the way.

Just as he placed his hand on the doorknob to open it Evan called out.

“Riles NO!”

A deafening gong rang out, droning as both boys flinched and covered their ears in an attempt to block it.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK, I’M GOING TO MURDER YOU WHEN WE GET OUT OF HERE REILLY”

“WHAT?!”

“FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT CAN YOU SEE?”

“WHAT?!! I CAN’T FUCKING HEAR YOU!” Reilly replied as Evan banged his forehead into the wall before making a motion with his hands; pointing towards his eyes and then Reilly’s with a look of iritation.

Evan could see as the comprehension registered across Reilly's face as he activated his ocular implant before scanning through the walls and ceiling. He held his hand out to signal the path to the right was clear, the boys slipped out through the door and begun navigating the hallways narrowly avoiding anyone as sorcerers rushed to the room to investigate.

“I swear to god Reilly one day I’m going to stangle you to death and end up in jail and I’m not even going to regret it.” Evan panted as they spilled onto the streets of New York blending into the foot traffic.

“Excuse you, rude! What happened to ‘No one will be able to detect us’ dickhead?”

“I said they wouldn’t be able to detect the energy that we used to time travel into the building, dork. I never said that they wouldn’t be able to detect us if you did anything stuid. Actually, if you can remember I also only asked if you could see anything in the building, not to open the door that was very heavily warded _before_ I disarmed it, Jesus what?!” Evan spluttered as he ran into the back of Reilly who had suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

“Evan look, we did it! We’re actually here, it worked!” Reilly exclaimed as he looked around in wonder.

“Huh, I guess we did. Don’t get me wrong I knew we would’ve and we’ve planned everything out as much as we can but being back here and seeing it like this is so weird. It’s like a memory of a dream. Things have changed so much, and I don’t just mean physically.” Evan replied as they came up to Washington Square Park.

“I know what you mean,” Reilly replied, trailing off. He could see children running through the park, slipping in and out of sight for just moments at a time, their parents engrossed in conversation, turning to check every now and then. Parents who didn't know what it was like to watch your child turn to dust in an instant. Children who didn't look blank in the face, drifting through life alone, weary of getting close to anyone, afraid that they would fade away too, or worse, careful of getting too close to anyone because they were afraid they'd start to hurt less.

Survivor's guilt.  
  
“They’re different," Evan added, taking notice. People in the future would always debate over what was worse, losing the people you loved, or blinking for a second only to realize it had been _five years_ for everyone else, and that the people you knew and loved had moved on. Remembering that feeling sent a shiver down his spine.

"I think I forgot what it was like before The Snap, bringing someone back isn't the same as never losing them in the first place.” Evan said softly as his eyes started to water.  
  
It was exactly what they were doing right now, trying to bring someone back even though they both knew it wouldn't stop them from hurting. Evan turned towards Reilly, both smiling through their tears and reached over to hold his hand as they took a moment to themselves and sat in the park.

After an hour that felt like a second the boys agreed they should start laying their plans into action.

Step 1: Base of Operations

**Boston 2025**   
**Peter’s Apartment**

“What are we going to do for money when we get there?” Peter asked pacing around his apartment while Harley sat at the table buried in plans, papers, and cut-outs, tablets strewn about and the holo-display a mess of open windows.

“We have two options, there’s the easy way, which I know you’re going to hate and then there’s the hard way which will be a lot more time-consuming.”

“What’s the easy way?” Peter said, his left eyebrow raised.

“We hack into the CPU and data centers for the Bank of America, skim a few dollars from all of their accounts, no one will notice a three to five dollar charge. In 2006 they had around forty million customers give or take, even if we only took four dollars from half of the largest accounts it would be eighty mil, easy. Deposit the money to an offshore account which should be enough for us to set up and invest to keep it growing, I mean... we know exactly how the stock market will perform.”

“Theft? Fraud? Insider Trading? Really?!” Peter exclaimed.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Harley defended, placing his hands in the air, “I already said you wouldn’t like it and it’s technically not considered insider trading since neither of us are, or have insiders in the companies” he finished with a smirk.

“There’s no chance we’re doing that Harley, stealing is wrong. What’s the hard way?”

“Boo you whore,” Harley answered with a pout as Peter rolled his eyes and threw a paper ball at him.

“Hey! No throwing things! I’m feeling very attacked right now!”

“Stop quoting vintage memes and get to the point.”

“Okay Karen, calm down,” Harley sighed.

“HARLEY!”

“What? I have to get them all out now before we leave since I won’t be able to use them once we’re in the past. Ugh fine, the hard way- which is a lot more effort might I add, means we’ll have to sell everything we own just before we leave, withdraw our accounts and exchange it all for one hundred dollar bills. Once that’s done, we’ll have to sort through all the bills and separate any that were minted after 2007. Then we use the money we can’t take to buy as much gold and diamonds as we can fit into our backpacks along with the money we _can_ take and pray that between us we have at least four million. We can use one mil for clothes, food, equipment and somewhere cheap to stay but the three million we’ll have to invest immediately which means yes, ‘Insider Trading’ according to you. We’ll need to constantly keep at least three million in stocks so it keeps growing. In the meantime, we can get jobs in the NY offices for S.I. We'll have just under a year and a half to work through the company until we’re high enough up to transfer out to LA. One hundred percent we need to be in LA once the Stark Expo opens in 2010 but I’d prefer to be there once the ‘I am Iron Man’ press conference shit storm happens. That way we can try to integrate ourselves into the old man’s and Pep’s lives before he starts to think he’s dying.”

Peter could feel his brain-melting as they went over everything.

**NYC 2008**   
**Stark Industries NY Branch Offices**

“I’m telling you Reyes, I haven’t seen genius like that at their age since Tony Stark himself” Head of R&D Doctor Sinclair was telling his mentee over lunch in the cafeteria.

“Speak for yourself old man, I’m sure anybody new manages to run circles around you.” Raven joked in reply.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen one, let alone two Juniors excel to the level they have straight off the bat. That alone is suspicious enough but the way they know the backbones of S.I., it’s procedures and systems is more than a littleeerie. It’s like they’ve worked here for years but as far as HR has checked this is their first working position since College, which raises even more questions. They’re both Doctors in their fields from MIT apparently but they applied for their positions here. People like that, with their marks and accomplishments, should have been headhunted before they graduated but HR and Talent Acquisition have never picked them up on their radar before. I made an offhand comment this morning in the labs to Doctor Richards if Hammer Tech or anyone else had offered him a position and his answer was no. He’s either lying or hiding something, he and Doctor Edwards seem to have appeared out of nowhere, brilliant and competent to a level that’s giving me red flags left, right and center.”

Raven Reyes appeared to be stunned.

“Wow, you really have lost it haven’t you? I need to log a report to Maintenance about the vents in the lab because I’m ninety-three percent convinced you’ve been inhaling fumes and they’ve dissolved your brain. Lord knows there wasn’t much of it to begin with.”

“Whose brain has dissolved?” Junior HR Officer Clarke Griffin asked as she sat down to join her two friends.

“Sinclair, he’s well and truly lost it Clarke, he’s delved into a conspiracy theory involving Dr. Richards and Dr. Edwards” Raven answered.

“You don’t say?” Clarke replied with a hum causing Reyes’s eyebrows to raise and Sinclair to smirk.

“Why Clarke? Have you heard anything?” Raven asked, suddenly serious.

“Not in so many words but something about them seems off. Not necessarily bad, just off. Personality-wise, Richards is a mix between a ball of sunshine and an enthusiastic puppy but I can tell he forces himself to be guarded around certain topics, takes more time to answer certain questions about his past or personal life, that sort of thing. Edwards, on the other hand, is the sassiest little shit I’ve met here so far, reminds me of Finn before he left for Hammer Tech, just as cocky too but endearing to the point of frustration, very ‘the devil may care’ but what surprises me the most is when people ask _him_ about his past. He seems to get pretty sentimental when talking about his mother or sister. Like I said they’re not problematic, just a bit odd,” Clarke answered.

“Huh,” Raven mumbled around her bite of pizza. Sinclair, on the other hand, had a shit-eating grin on his face Raven knew meant that he was going to be a pain in her ass for the rest of the week.

Clarke may or may not have taken enjoyment from the entire thing.

Later that night Doctors Richards and Edwards were alone in the labs, burning the midnight oil.

“Honestly Evan I have no idea how anyone here manages to get anything worthwhile done.” Reilly moaned, frustrated with the servers he was working on while Evan yawned for the seventh time that night.

“I know, even for this time period, the technology here is depressing as fuck. I don’t even know what the point of having R&D in New York is if it’s this shit. We’ll have to push Pops to move across asap once Hammer, Vanko and SHEILD are dealt with so he can get the tower built. I actually feel sorry for Sinclair and Reyes wasting away in this sad excuse of a lab. I’m sure I’ve heard her say that he’s been breathing in fumes because the extractor fans are on the fritz. Blah. I must be tired, I’m starting to empathize. Time to bury that shit down with caffeine.” Reilly could only snort in response.

**A Month Later NYC**   
**39th Street Midtown**   
**Reilly and Evan’s Apartment**

It was lucky that the boys had flexible work hours. As long as they completed their assigned tasks and projects, worked the minimum hours each week and attended staff meetings they were free to set their own schedules. Lucky in particular for Reilly as his habit for perpetually sleeping in during his teenage years carried over to adulthood much to the dismay of his aunt.

It was around ten when he finally hauled ass out of bed expecting to find Evan eating breakfast at the table, on his laptop going through the stock exchange. When he found him sitting on the couch staring into the TV with an empty look on his face, he instantly knew that something was wrong.

“Evan, is everything ok?”  
“Evan? What’s wrong?”  
“Evan...”  
“Harley!”

**Boston 2024**   
**Peter’s Apartment**

“HARLEY!” Peter yelled out in shock.

“What you’re suggesting is ridiculous! We can’t go back in time to save Tony! I know you miss him, I do too. Even though I always called him Mr. Stark he was like my dad as well. There’s still not a day that goes by when I don’t think about him, wonder what he would say to me every day, to you, to Morgan, _to us..._ Every year Morgan gets older and all I can think about is how _less_ she remembers him. I want him back so much it hurts but we can’t Harls, we can’t.” Peter sobbed out through tears.

“THE HELL WE CAN’T PETE! TELL ME WHY? TELL ME WHY WE CAN’T SAVE OUR FATHER?!” he screamed out.

“He saved us, Peter, he saved us all, he saved the world, he saved half of the fucking universe and when it mattered the most... No one saved him”

“ _No one was there to save him when he needed it the most_ ,” Harley let out as a whimper, utterly destroyed.

“Even if we use the Aesir artifact and time shifts completely and permanently unlike the BS version the Avengers used, if we go back that far too much will be changed. Morgan might never be born! Do you understand that?! So as much as I want to save him I could never do it at the risk of her, his daughter and our sister... and I know you couldn’t either Harls.” Peter could see Harley deflate, defeated and torn. He’s never hated himself more.

Two weeks later Morgan and Pepper were killed in a car crash on their way to Boston to visit the boys at MIT.

**2008 NYC**   
**39th Street Midtown**   
**Reilly and Evan’s Apartment**

“Harley!”

“It’s happening Pete”

“What’s happening?”

“Anthony Edward Stark CEO of Stark Industries was attacked while traveling from a weapons demonstration for the US Airforce and Military in the Middle East. The Airforce has released a statement that their convoy was run off the designated route and ambushed in Odessa. Mr. Stark's whereabouts are still unknown.” The news reporter ran off as the weight of the situation sunk in.

“I hate this Ry, I hate sitting here and doing nothing while he’s there in Afghanistan being beaten and tortured within an inch of his life. I’ve never felt so useless.” Harley breathed out.

“I know Evan, but it has to happen, you know it does. It’s one of the markers we can’t change.”

“Fucking markers.”

**Upstate New York 2024**   
**The Avengers Facility**

Two months after the funeral service of Pepper and Morgan Stark.

“What the fuck is a marker Harley?” Peter asked in confusion.

“A marker, Peter Parker is a critical event that we need to ensure occurs to guide the timeline to a result where the dusting never happens and Tony lives” Harley explained.

“Oooooh, so it’s like a fixed point in space and time?!” Peter questioned excitedly.

“Nerd alert,” Harley called out as he threw a stylus at Peter's head only for him to snatch it and launch it back.

“Oi Spidey, watch it!” Harley screeched as he waved his hands freezing the stylus in mid-air.

“My hair’s on fire today, don’t mess it up” Harley primped as he checked his reflection in the polished lab bench.

“True, you are serving looks right now,” Peter added.

“As I was about to say before you rudely decided to attack me.”

_“You threw first!”_

“Drama queen. AS I WAS ABOUT TO SAY TIME LORD. No, a marker is not a fixed point in time and space. If it doesn’t occur the multiverse won’t implode or tear apart at the seams. It marks an event that we need to happen to get what we want, but it’s not fixed. We need to let it happen or make sure that it does, isn’t that right Fri?”

“Correct Harley” Friday intoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need validation and attention to survive, please leave comments and feedback <3  
> Also looking for a Beta XO


	2. And No Raven, They're Not Fucking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which identities are explained and cross country moves are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it looks like The 100 are making more of an appearance. It turns out using pre established characters with existing personalities is easier than developing your own. What a surprise.
> 
> PS if you're from LA or SoCal please read the end notes.

**NYC 2008**   
**Stark Industries NY Branch Offices**

By the time the boys made it into the office that day they could feel the tension and uncertainty hovering in the air. People all around them carried looks of emptiness and shock across their faces.

As they logged into the labs they found Sinclair and Reyes talking to someone who looked to be a few years older than them. He was wearing a black security uniform and next to him stood a blonde in a pantsuit who seemed like she’d been through the wringer.

“Hi boys, I guess you guys have heard the news?” Raven greeted and was met with two stiff nods.

“Doctor Richards and Doctor Edwards? I’m Clarke Griffin from Human Resources, I wish I could say we were meeting under better circumstances.” She held her hand out.

“Hello, Ms. Griffin,” Ry spoke solemnly shaking her hand.

“What circumstances _are we_ meeting under?” Evan asked suspiciously, glancing over to the security guard.

“Bellamy Blake. I’m here to supervise and secure the equipment in the labs for removal and transportation.” He answered out in response to Evan’s gaze.

“What’s going on, Clarke?” Sinclair questioned with hints of panic lining his voice.

“Now that the Doctors are here, we can get started. Stark Industries is closing ranks. With the disappearance of Tony Stark, we’ve been notified that Mr. Stane would like all R&D branches in North America restructured immediately.” She noticed that at the mention of Stane, both doctors narrowed their eyes.

“What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this lab, is that understood?” It was less of a question and more of a statement. Once everyone nodded, she continued.

“Stane is worried about Mr. Stark and he’s concerned about the future of the company. Yes, Stark Industries is the Global Leader for weapons tech but it’s no secret that most of our groundbreaking work has always been led by _Mr. Stark himself._ At the moment we have time; the Jericho was just released at Mr. Stark's visit but we need to have other projects lined up to remain competitive, to keep the company afloat. To that matter, all R&D personnel are being transferred to Head Quarters in LA in an emergency attempt to plan out a product release schedule for the next fiscal year. I’m sorry guys but if you don’t accept the transfer, you’ll either have to move to a different department or be made redundant,” Clarke explained.

“Mr. Stark has only been missing a day! Why is everyone acting as if he’s dead? We need to be out there looking for him, not giving up. He needs us to save him!” Reilly lashed out much to the surprise of everyone but Evan.

“Doctor Richards I didn’t realize how much you cared for him. Have you and Mr. Stark met before?” Sinclair asked, confused. He could see Richard’s eyes widen before he stammered out.

“No, no I’ve never met him but... he’s my hero you know? Everything he’s done for the world, all the people he’s saved. I look up to him a lot I guess.”

Evan could feel his eyes starting to roll as he looked up, suppressing the urge to slap Reilly.

 _“Hero?”_ Sinclair echoed what most of the people in the room were thinking.

“Richards, you do know that we manufacture military-grade weapons for warfare, right?” Reyes let slip and could see the hurt in Reilly’s eyes.

“What about the millions of lives S.I. has saved advancing medical technology? Or the people we’ve kept from starving with our Intelli-Crops? Not to mention the Maria Stark Foundation, Mr. Stark isn’t the villain most people paint him out to be.” He replied sounding like a kicked puppy as Sinclair, Reyes, and Griffin shifted uncomfortably.

“Wait a minute.” Evan realized.  
“So, we’re all being transferred to LA?” He looked at Griffin suddenly focused. This is exactly what they wanted and moving now would push them ahead of schedule.

“Correct Dr. Edwards, everyone’s to oversee the equipment transfer here. Then once it’s loaded and secured, you’ll have a week to organize anything you need to before you leave. The company has leased apartments near headquarters in the West Hills for each of you when you arrive to help settle in. You’re all free however to look for your own place if that’s what you wish.” She trailed off as she began handing packets of information out to the four.

**Boston 2025**   
**Peter’s Apartment**

“Doctor _Richards?_ ” Harley asked unsurely.

“My dad, his name was Richard and I want to keep a part of him with me. If I can’t be a Parker then a Richards will have to do.” Peter and Harley had spent hours trying to put together their new identities for when they jumped. Obviously, there couldn’t be two Peter Parkers and two Harley Keeners in 2008. Especially if someone tried to look them up online only to find out that they should be seven and eight years old.

“So…” Harley continued.

“Reilly Franklin Richards. Reilly was Aunt May's maiden name and Franklin was Uncle Ben's middle name. I don’t want to forget either of them.” Peter explained suddenly weighed down with melancholy.

“Benjamin Franklin Parker?” Harley confirmed with a smile on his lips.

“Aunt May always thought it was hilarious.” Peter laughed out, feeling lighter.

“So, what are you going to go with Harls?”

“Harls? Who is she? Where did you find her?” Harley questioned seriously in an over-exaggerated English accent.

“Calm down Mr. Extra.” Peter chuckled.

“Excuse me that’s _Mr. Doctor Edwards_ to you, thank you very much” Harley exclaimed with a grin on his lips.

“Edwards? Who dat?” Peter clarified with a knowing smirk.

“The mechanic's middle name was Edward. I figured if you were going to use one of your old man’s names I may as well do the same,” he answered as nonchalantly as possible.

“Careful Keener, your emotions are showing.” Peter joked. “And that would make you?”

“Evan Davidson Edwards. Evans was my mom's maiden name and yes, I’m being unoriginal and copying you, I know. Davidson as in Harley Davidson. Gotta keep some of the bad boy charm, you know?” He winked at Peter who could only groan and throw a book at him.

“HEY! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU?! NOT THE HAIR PETER!” Peter could only cackle before running off as Harley chased him.

**NYC 2008**   
**Stark Industries NY Branch Offices**

“No, wait Doctor Sinclair! I can do that for you, maintenance hasn’t looked at the exhaust fans yet,” Harley called out as he rushed over to Sinclair who was disposing of chemicals deemed too dangerous or unnecessary to travel to LA.

Raven smirked in the background.

Peter sat on the floor in the middle of the lab surrounded by servers, circuit boards, project files and fabrication equipment attempting to catalog the tech between what was going; what was staying; what was being donated and what was being destroyed. Honestly at this point barely a quarter would be going with them to LA and Harley was right, it was depressing as fuck. So much had happened after the Battle of New York that had drastically changed the landscape of their world.

The Chitauri Invasion and the tech that was scavenged.  
The Mind Stone Sceptre that Shield/Hydra had experimented on.  
Further studies into Gamma Radiation.  
Extremis.  
The remnants of Ultron.  
The enhanced individuals that kept on popping up.  
The Winter Soldier Program.  
Nanotech.  
Magic and the Mystic Arts.  
Wakanda coming out to the world.  
The Guardians and their tech.  
 _Carol._

By 2023 when Tony reversed the snap, fields of science had grown in leaps and bounds.  
  
It was almost too easy to hack the technology here when they first arrived in 2008. New birth certificates, social security cards, papers from MIT, their licenses. Harley was convinced it took less time to hack a new driver’s license then it did to get one at the DMV, the true seventh circle of hell.

Peter sighed as he started carrying boxes down to the incinerator.

“Yo Edwards!” Raven called out as she turned to Harley who was loading green solution into airtight cases.

“Raven! Jesus Christ! Don’t yell at me when I’m handling chemicals. God knows these things melt Sinclair’s brain, imagine what would happen to my _hair_ if I dropped them!” Harley exclaimed in surprise.

“Yeah, yeah, you have an unhealthy obsession with your hair and narcissistic tendencies. We’re all well aware,” she remarked trying to block Harley from storing the liquids.

“How dare you make such hurtful and accurate statements. What do you want Reyes?” he asked smiling as he sidestepped her to secure the transport case.

“What’s up with _lover boy?_ ” Raven asked crossing her arms watching with satisfaction as Harley blushed and fiddled with his hair.

“Do you see it as well?” he whispered.  
“I thought I saw Bellamy checking me out but I’m still waiting for him to make a move. It’s not like it matters anyway, we’re leaving in a week. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing _how much we could do in a week_.” Harley grinned with his tongue between his teeth.

“Bellamy?!” Raven shouted in disbelief before she turned to stare at Bellamy then back to Harley.

“Shhhh Raven what the fuck?! Calm down, he’ll hear you,” Harley whispered as forcefully as he could before looking over his shoulder to see if Bellamy was coming over. He seemed too caught up to notice, helping Griffin sort through security for the transport. Thank Satan for small mercies.  
  
“ Yes, Bellamy, who the fuck were _you_ talking about?”

“Doctor Richards.”

“Reilly?” Harley questioned before breaking out into laughter. 

“Ahahaha, ew. No. Gross on so many levels. Reilly and I are like brothers, we’ve known each other since before MIT. He’s my best friend,” he explained once he’d stop giggling.

“Really? Does he know that?” She continued with her hands on her hips as Peter walked in to grab another box of servers.

“Hey, Ry!” Harley called out to Peter across the lab.

“What Evan?” he yelled back.

“Reyes wants to know how long we’ve been fucking!” Thankfully Clarke had already left to go to the loading dock to inspect the transport, Harley thought she was pretty cool but this was not the kind of workplace banter someone in HR would appreciate. Their loss.

“EVAN!”  
“Ew. No. Gross on so many levels. Have those chemicals melted your brain cells like Doctor Sinclair’s?!” Thankfully Sinclair was with Clarke overseeing equipment getting packed and secured.

Harley was too busy laughing to notice the look of interest across Bellamy’s face as he stared at Harley’s smile.

Raven, however, wasn’t and her smirk was back. _‘Interesting’_ she thought to herself.

“Hey Bellamy, I don’t suppose you were also getting transferred to LA were you?”

“I’ll be supervising the transport and installation of the tech to headquarters before returning back east to head up what’s left of the NY branch.”

 _‘Blah’_ she continued in her head _‘Who am I going to use for entertainment at work now, I hope LA brings some drama.’_

“Bellamy, how old are you? Twenty-six? Head of Security for a Stark Branch, it’s pretty impressive,” Harley enquired feeling brave.

“Uh. Twenty-four actually, and to be honest it’s not that great,” he stammered out the tips of his ears going red.  
“Without R&D and Fabrication here we’re probably going to transition over to a marketing and administration-based division, so there won’t be much to steal.”

“Maybe, but you shouldn’t sell yourself short. It’s still an accomplishment. Besides; I have a feeling SI will shift focus to New York sooner or later. Word on the nerd street is that Silicone Valley is a bore these days. _You never know,_ ” Harley complimented, winking as Bellamy’s pupils dilated and he coughed.

“Thank you, Doctor Edwards,” Bellamy stuttered as he cleared his throat and then scurried off.

“There you go Reyes, that should keep you going until we get to Malibu and you can find someone else to live through,” Harley remarked as he turned to Raven grinning.

“Huh?” she asked, spooked.

“Oh please, I could see the look on your face.” He teased before throwing another wink and sauntering off.

Raven felt a shiver down her spike, Clarke was right.

They were definitely off, but in a good way.

**LA 2008**   
**West Hills New Apartment**

Seven days, one packed R&D department, two suitcases, an apartment and car crammed into a shipping container, one six-and-a-half-hour flight and two intense TSA gropings (that left Peter feeling violated and Harley _excited_ ) later, the boys made it to their new apartment in the West Hills next to Raven’s. Sinclair opted to sort himself out, moving his family closer to the water.

“Putting in a request with Griffin was definitely a vibe Evan. Having to go back and forth between two one-bedroom apartments was not Gucci.” Peter huffed throwing himself onto the couch surrounded by boxes.

“Yeah well, I’m pretty sure that’s the reason why the entire branch thought we were fucking, so. Also, what did I tell you about using memes and slang that doesn’t exist yet you derp.” Harley was walking around the apartment moving boxes and unpacking.

“Geez Louise. Alright, my bad. Take a chill pill dude. _Better?_ ” Harley only rolled his eyes in response.

“I swear to god Reilly, get up before I stab you in the kneecaps. We need to get organized and go over our plan for world domination.” Harley unpacked a safe, opening it up to pull out two laptops.

Peter raised his hands walking over to the table. “Chillax bro, don’t be hating on my mad skillz.”

“Alright, we’ve got to use this time before the mechanic is found to impress as many people as we can within SI. We can’t look like we’re trying too hard though, that’ll just piss people off and we’ll come across the wrong way.” Harley added as Peter sat down and started up his laptop.

“Be smart, brilliant and competent but nonchalant about it. Got it. How much time _do_ we have before Mr. Stark is back?”

Harley hummed as he went through his notes. “Hmm, just over two and a half months.”

“I just wish there was more that we could do, I read the reports before we left. _Waterboarding, electroshock, asphyxiation, septicemia,_ not to mention the beating and having his sternum along with a quarter of his chest removed.”

“I know Ry, but it’s the biggest marker we’ll encounter. Being kidnapped, tortured, beaten and all those things are what changed Tony’s perspective on life. Made him the person we know, opened his eyes to the world beyond his bubble; beyond his _privilege_ , beyond his ego and narcissism. Made him into the father he was for all of us. We know we’ll never have _‘_ our Tony’ back, but we have to help this Tony become a better man. Without the Ten Rings, he’ll never be someone compassionate enough to change the world. _Or defend it._ Besides we have plenty of work to do.”

“Yes yes I know, move up in Stark Industries, save Mr. Stark, world domination _,_ and then the multiverse,” Peter parroted.

“Heck yeah mother fuckers,” Harley yelled out before chugging a coffee, slamming the empty cup on the table and cracking his fingers.

He may have looked deranged, but it was probably just the lighting.

A few hours later Peter remembered to check the time. “Don’t forget Evs, we have to be at HQ early tomorrow.”

“Ew, remind me why again Ry?”

“All of the transfers should be here by now and we have a department-wide meeting before our orientation.”

“Lame.”

“Tell me about it, we’re also giving Ray a ride this week because she hasn’t managed to find a car yet.”

“Okay, no. I’m sure I wouldn’t have agreed to _that_. Why did I agree to that Reilly?”

“Because while it’s half an hour to SI from the West Hills, if you drive it’s two and involves three busses and a metro each way on transit.”

“Ah. Yup, that would’ve done it.”

“Also because you’re actually a nice person even though you _pretend_ not to be...”

“Alright! That’s it, time for bed. You’re getting delusional and need to sleep.” Evan denied as he slammed his laptop shut and got up for bed.

******

Raven was not an early riser. Never had been, never will be. She had her morning routine down packed to an art. Hit snooze until the very last blissful minute possible before jumping out of bed, running around like a crazy person and being out the door in ten minutes. But when she heard pounding on her front door, she thought for sure that she slept through her alarms.

She got up out of bed still half asleep and rushed to the front door to find Reilly and Evan both wearing sunglasses holding coffees and a brown bag.

 _“Goooood morning Ray!”_ Peter greeted as he pushed past her to put the coffee and food down.

“What up Reyes?” Harley chuckled looking at her half-dead form, hair a mess and sleep in her eyes.

“What time is it? How late are we? I must’ve slept through my alarms. Shit.”

“It’s seven-thirty!” Peter answered from the kitchen.

“Seven-thirty?! What the FUCK! The meeting’s at nine, we don’t have to leave until eight fifteen at the earliest! Why the fuck are you here now?!” she screamed.

“Woah calm down, we brought you coffee and Reilly made breakfast muffins you can eat in the _caaaaaar_. We want to take the long way through Malibu and drive past the beach just for today. Call us sentimental but it’ll be fun.”

Peter snorted. “Yeah right, he just wants to take his baby for a ride with the top down.”

“Hey! She deserves to be treated! We kept her locked up 24/7 in New York, it was _criminal_.”

“You’re both fucking crazy and I regret asking you for a ride.”

“Come on el lame-o, top-down, morning sun, ocean sea breeze. I’ll even let you eat in the car and ask us those personal questions I know you’ve been dying to ask...” Harley trailed off in a sing-song.

“AARGH FINE. Give me fifteen minutes,” Raven conceded turning around to the bathroom.  
 _‘I’m going to buy the first car I find this weekend’_ she thought to herself as she brushed her teeth, seething.

******

“ _Woah,_ ” Raven let out as she saw the Cherry Red 1965 Mustang Convertible. She could feel Edwards snicker before she heard it.  
“Alright I’m slightly less pissed now, this car is a gift from the Gods. How many virgins did you have to sacrifice for this?” she added running her hand down the paint job before sliding in the back. “Are you two secretly loaded?”

“Erm, I mean sorta kinda? I guess. It depends on what you count as loaded? We’re not like, billionaires, but we _do_ have more money than most twenty-year-olds.” Peter always got awkward with conversations about money.

“Then why don’t the two of you act or dress like it? No offense,” she tacked on.

“Reilly and I grew up pretty humble. Single struggling parents type of thing. My dad walked out when I was five and...”

“My parents died around the same time for me in a plane crash. I grew up with my Uncle And Aunt but he was killed in a mugging back in New York.”

“I’m so sorry guys, I know what it’s like. Both of my parents sucked ass... but I still wish they were alive.” She has to admit, the sun on her face and wind in her hair was pretty nice. “Then how did you end up making bank?”

“Evan and I had a mentor before we went to MIT. We actually met through him, he ran this program for gifted teens I guess. He taught us basically everything we know, encouraged us, pushed us to be better. That kind of thing.”

“He’s the reason why we both even got into MIT in the first place, even with scholarships we never would have been able to believe we could’ve gotten there. He taught us we could,” Harley finished pulling towards the Pacific Coast Highway.

“He was really well off. _Old money,_ ” Peter added.

“Do you guys still keep in touch?” she asked curiously.

“No. He, he passed away before Evan and I were accepted into college. But he left us some money in his will, two million each. Nothing crazy, but more than enough for us to get a head start. We still got school covered by our scholarship grants and Evs was smart enough to know not to leave the money sitting in the bank collecting dust so we invested a lot of it. A couple of businesses and the stock market type of thing. Plus we’re still pretty frugal and have managed to get by with less than we make on Stark Industries entry-level pay. We got this car from a junkyard and restored it over the summer ourselves.”

“No fucking way. Where did you both learn so much about cars? Don’t tell me it was something you did on a _whim_ otherwise I’m going to throw myself off the cliff when we drive past it.”

“Ha, no. Our mentor... he taught us before he died. Evan used to call him the mechanic.” Peter explained.

“We’re coming up now dorks, the sharing circle is over.”

Raven let out a whistle from the back seat.  
“Damn, it’s nice out here. Don’t get me wrong I’m New York through and through but I get why people like Cali.” She reached forward to flick the radio on.

_**"YO NEW YORK IN THE HOUSE!"** _   
_**"IS BROOKLYN IN THE HOUSE?"** _

Harley broke out into giggles while bopping his head along to the music. “Hey Ry, they’re playing your song.”

“NO FUCKING WAY this is your song Richards” Raven laughed while she swayed across the back seat moving her shoulders in time to the beat.

Harley turned to Peter and lowered his shades to the end of his nose. Just as the verse was about to start he pulled his signature wink before singing the last line of the intro, _**“Bad boy,”**_

 _ **“Oh when you walk by every night, talking sweet and lookin' fly, I get kinda hectic insiiiiiiiide,"**_ Peter belted out, going full diva as Harley laughed before joining in.

 ** _“Mmmm baby I'm so into you, darling if you only knew, all the things that flow through my mind,”_** the boys screamed as Raven snorted through her giggles.

Harley half turned around and raised his eyebrow.  
“Well, are you joining in or not Reyes?” She rolled her eyes before holding her empty coffee cup in front of her face.

 ** _“ITS JUST A SWEET SWEET FANTASY BABY”_**  
All three of them sung out through smiles, driving along the Malibu coast making up their own lyrics.

 _'Yeah’_ Raven thought to herself as she lifted her hand into the air, dragging it up and down through the wind. _‘These two are without a doubt crazy.'_ But she didn’t regret asking for a ride. Not for a second.

_**“There’s no beginning and there is no end.”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout outs to Elizabeth527, PikWik, Poppaea_sabina and kjoboo for feeding the attention whore that I am. 
> 
> To the other 100 or so of you who read this and didn’t, I just have one question. Why won’t you love me?
> 
> Kidding but, I need constant reassurance that it ain't a hunk of steaming shit and if you think it is for the love of God let me know so I can fix it.
> 
> FOR THE LA'S & SOCAL'S  
> Hello, I am sorry. It's been pointed out to me that "LA traffic is legendarily bad" and that "there is no way. NO WAY. None that this is possible," by my amazing Beta.
> 
> I know I know, but I couldn't cut this scene or chop it around to fit as well. Don't come for me pls.
> 
> <3


	3. And Peter's Nerd Boner Is Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 'bring your time traveler' to work day at Stark Industries. 
> 
> Featuring heavy breathing from Dr. Richards and plans for world domination from Dr. Edwards.
> 
> Jake Griffin regrets everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy loves a Mariah moment, sorry not sorry.
> 
> I've also added stylization to the fic, big yes or big no?

**Boston 2025**   
**Harley's Apartment**

**_“I’m. In. Heeeeeeaven. With my boyfriend. My laughing boyfriend. There’s no beginning and there is no eeeeeeeend,”_** Peter sang under his breath as he walked out of the kitchen with pizza.

“For fuck's sake Peter how many times are we going to listen to Mariah Carey today? I’m over her already, _change the fucking song,_ ” Harley grunted out at the table as he tapped away on his display.

“How DARE you disrespect Mariah like that!” Peter gasped as he came to sit down.

“Lord Jesus, please help me,” Harley sighed looking up before stopping to think, then looking down, “Or even _you Satan_ , whichever one of you feels like helping out today,” he finished while Peter scoffed.

“All right, all right, fine. I didn’t realize you were such a little bitch,” The music stopped as Peter sassed. “Tehehe.”

“If that’s the price I have to pay to end this then I’m going to take it. Now, I’ve been thinking about how we’re going to tackle Tony and Pepper once we get to LA,” he steamrolled ahead.

“Oh yes?”

“Yes.” Harley didn’t look particularly happy about it.

“So who gets Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

“Well, while we could both insert ourselves into the role of his assistant before ‘Rushman’ gets a chance to, pretty easily, Pepper is a different story. Whoever goes with her will have to be organized as fuck, confident, ruthless to a point,” Peter was certain he was liking where this was going. _“Handsome, have ridiculously good hair, be charming,”_

“Self-absorbed, narcissistic and emotionally stunted?” Peter added rolling his eyes.

“RUDE! I was going to say humble, which I am, _obviously_. Besides, I’m sorry but your administrative and management skills are pretty much non-existent. Plus, the mechanic and I are too much alike. We’d probably piss each other off within the first week and I’d be fired. No one can resist that trademarked Peter Parker Puppy vibe you throw out.”

“Okay, I’m picking up everything you’re putting down so far, but my question is this. How exactly are we going to get Ms. Potts to notice two junior employees straight out of MIT, let alone offer us _assistant positions_ to the two most important people in S.I.?” Peter could see the glint in Harley’s eyes and knew he wouldn’t like the answer.

“We’re going to 'wow' and 'dazzle' them by _inventing_ technology that shouldn’t exist for another couple of years,” Harley explained making liberal use of jazz hands.

“Harley no!”

“Harley _yes!_ ”

“THAT’S THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY!”

“Whose intellectual property? It won’t exist yet.”

“IT’S UNETHICAL!”

“Peter, we are _literally_ going back in time to change the events of pre-established history, in o u r f a v o r. I’m pretty sure that’s about as unethical as anyone could get.”

“Ugh,” Peter sighed as Harley carried on.

“Besides... _ethics?_ Highly subjective and completely overrated.” Harley winked with a self-satisfied smirk.

“I hate you.”

**LA 2008**   
**Stark Industries Headquarters**

****

“I think I’m in love,” Raven spoke in a daze as they walked through the mezzanine past the lower labs to the conference rooms.

“Jacapo!”

As Harley turned to see who was trying to get Dr. Sinclair’s attention he noticed a tall middle-aged brunette with a wide smile walking over.

“Jake! How are you?” Sinclair seemed happy to see him, Harley could see Raven walking towards Jake smiling just as wide.

“Papa G! Long-time no see, what’s been happening?”

“I’ve been asking the universe what I did wrong to deserve getting stuck with you for the foreseeable future. I thought I was free when I left New York and according to Jacapo’s emails, you’ve only gotten worse.” Jake joked.

“Awww, have you been telling love stories about me, Dr. S?” Raven asked sweetly as the boys smirked.

“Hi, I’m Doctor Jake Griffin, Head of R&D L.A,” the man introduced holding his hand out his hand to the two.

“Dr. Riley Richards, it’s nice to meet you Dr. Griffin.”

“ _Griffin?_ ” Harley asked as he shook his hand, he looked more like a farmer than a scientist, to be honest. A real ‘salt of the earth’ type.

“That’s right, Papa G is Clarke's dad, he taught me a lot when we both worked together in New York,” Raven answered.

“And boy don’t I regret it, trust me,” Jake bumped his shoulder into Raven. “Well, that must make you Dr. Edwards? My daughter warned me to keep an eye on you two to make sure Raven doesn’t drag you both down with her.”

Harley could read between the lines. Clarke may have warned him to watch out for them, oh, _that part_ he was sure was true. He’d sooner shave his hair off than believe it had anything to do with Raven though.

“All right guys, Jacapo and I need to go touch base with the other R&D Heads before the department meeting starts. You three can sort out security clearance and pick up uniforms from HR before we all meet, their offices are down the south corridor to the right. Be back here before we start at nine-thirty please.”

“Uniforms?” Raven tilted her head.

“Lab coats,” Dr. Sinclair replied before walking into the conference room with Dr. Griffin.

Harley: “Ew”  
Raven: “Ew”

Peter: “ _OooooOooO?!_ We get lab coats? Oh my god, that’s so cool! We’ll be like real scientists!”

“We are real scientists you dork,” Raven laughed.

“Hello? MIT Graduates? PhDs? Ringing any bells _Doctor Richards?_ ” Harley added for emphasis.

“You know what I mean you fuckers,” Peter whispered as they made their way to the south corridor.

Raven gasped holding her hand to her chest, “Dr. Richards, language!” before giggling.

“ _Good authors, too, who once knew better words,_ ” Peter began.

“ _Now only use four-letter words,_ ” Harley followed.

“ _Writing prose, **anything goes!** ”_ the boys finished in unison before smirking.

“You two are so freakin’ weird sometimes, and kinda creepy. You do know that right?”

They looked at her and answered together, “We know.”

Both of the boys were a little surprised at what HR classed as ‘security clearance’. They signed a new NDA, got their photos taken and were given access cards to the majority of the building. Even Bellamy had stricter security procedures in New York and that only had four scientists in R&D. This was the global headquarters. It started to make sense of how Stane managed to get away with his shit for so long and how Nat didn’t even raise so much as a flag.

ID cards clipped to their new white coats, the three of them headed down to Conference Room B.

“Is it just me or….” Raven trailed off as they sat down.

“Or is everyone else in this room a fifty-five-year-old straight white male who looks like he enjoys golfing and casual racism?” Harley finished looking around the room.

“ _Guys!_ ” Peter hushed aggressively.

“What? I’m serious Ry, I actually think Dr. Sinclair might be the fourth-youngest person here.”

“I think you might be right Edwards,” Raven confirmed suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that she was the only woman in the room.

It was the most grueling experience Peter had faced outside of his Spiderman suit, and that included having the Vulture drop a building on him. There were only so many times you could listen to a bunch of boomers trying to brainstorm new and efficient ways of killing people, it made his skin itch.

Harley, however, was bored out of his mind, in his opinion most of the people talking were just trying to recycle old ideas and products while labeling them as ‘updates’. He did have to admit though, you could only keep warfare fun and fresh for so long _without_ breaking The Geneva Convention, which apparently they weren’t. Lame.

In the end, it didn’t matter anyway, the weapons division was a men’s club, they were never going to let a bunch of kids in no matter how brilliant they were. The joke would be on them in a couple of months’ time when their entire division would get shut down.

Although he was the head of R&D L.A. Dr. Griffin didn’t oversee weapons, they reported directly to Mr. Stark and Obadiah Stane only.

“Alright you three, you’re with Dr. Sinclair and me,” Jake corralled them out of the conference room to the Innovation Labs.

“I don’t understand, What was the point of transferring everyone here if we’re not going to work on the product release schedule for the next year?” Peter whispered as Sinclair and Griffin led the way.

Harley slowed down to put some distance between them, “They didn’t move anyone here to work on the release schedule Ry, that’s just what they told Clarke.”

“What?” Peter and Raven asked as Harley shushed them.

“Stane is worried and concerned about the company surviving without Mr. Stark, _that’s probably true_ , but he didn’t drag us all here to figure it out together. He’s planning to cut all of the R&D Divisions except for Weapons. He couldn’t lay us ALL off at once without the stocks falling and the investors pulling out. It would be all over the news; ‘Stark Industries Mass Lay Offs’, so he’s rounded us up to start thinning the herd slowly in a controllable environment. That’s why they offered us a transfer or redundancy at first. If our positions in the company were being cut in New York do you really think moving locations would make a difference?” Harley pointed out, eyes scanning the hallways on the lookout for any prying ears.

Raven: “Well. Yes, actually.”  
Peter: “I mean... kinda?”

“No one will probably notice at first, it’ll be slow. Some people won’t pass their next performance reviews, some divisions will get combined and a few scientists will be let go because of it, they’ll stop hiring all together unless it’s for weapon development and try to move the people that are left over to other departments.”

“Bastard,” Peter let slip. If Mr. Stark had actually been killed and never made it back the company would’ve taken a turn for the worse, dragging the world down instead of lifting it up.

“What are we going to do?” Raven was shocked.

“Chin up Reyes, I’m sure everything will work itself out in a few months.” After dropping that bombshell on her, it goes unsaid that Harley went on to give a wink and grin.

After scanning into the elevator Peter could tell they were descending fast, faster and lower than he would’ve expected. “How far down are the Innovation Labs Dr. Griffin?”

“Around a third of a mile below sea level.”

“Sorry, _what?_ ” Raven clarified, “Why are the labs even underground in the first place? What about the fault lines? What have you been playing with down here Papa G?” She smirked raising an eyebrow.

“The labs were built into dormant magma tubes naturally lined with obsidian so they're perfectly safe, probably more stable than the facility above ground in the event of an earthquake. Why don’t you go and take a look Raven?” Jake smiled in response as the elevator came to a halt.

Harley had to admit, even coming from 2026 he was still impressed, it almost looked as if they were in a spaceship. Lights lined the white wall and ceiling panels, the stations seemed to sparkle and glass displays beeped blissfully in the background. It could still use some holo displays and an A.I. but it wasn’t bad.

“Are you sure that elevator wasn’t going up? Have we died and gone to heaven? It’s so white,” she turned around to look at the boys. “No wait. Edwards is still here, we can’t be in heaven, and if we are somebody somewhere messed up.”

“I don’t get it though, _why_ are we so far down?” Peter continued looking around to find a glass wall with tinted windows.

“We need to be able to simulate any environment or weather conditions,” Jake explained leading the group over to the observation post before tapping a panel that removed the tint.

The lab was immediately doused in light as Peter exclaimed.

“The Intelli-crops!”

“Woah, this is actually pretty sick,” Harley breathed out impressed.

Through the glass looking down, they could see fields of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and wheat in what looked like an underground cavern. UV lights bathed the fields in a purple glow and it looked like it was raining lightly from a suspended irrigation system.

A few scientists in hazmat suits were conducting experiments and taking measurements.

“I’ve read everything about the project, the crops are essentially grown in their own biodome with thousands of different gene strains. Then, they’re subjected to extreme and irregular weather patterns under specific bands of light and soil conditions to accelerate growth and natural variation. _Buuuut,_ unlike traditional farming techniques they don’t just go with the strongest strain which can cause crop failure when something is able to infect or sterilize them. They combine them all on the genetic level, even the ones that don’t do so well. The Intelli-crops store that genetic information and can change their gene sequence to adapt under immense stress. _Real-time, response-triggered mutation_. It’s incredible!” Peter rambled as the glass fogged up because he was breathing all over it, excited.

“Ry, do you want us to leave you two alone for a moment?” Harley giggled.

“You’ve looked into the Intelli-crops, Dr. Richards?” Jake asked surprised, not many people wanted to hear about S.I. achievements outside of the Weapons Division.

“Yeah, Richards is _really_ into the humanitarian side of Mr. Stark. Intelli-crops, Stark Med, The Maria Stark Foundation,” Raven answered jabbing Peter as he blushed.

“Good lad Richards, don’t believe everything you read in the media about the warmongering Tony Stark,” Jake defended clasping Peter on the shoulder.

“The entire crop has only seen artificial light? Jesus this thing must suck power, I bet that must cause a dent in the yearly budget,” Raven moved closer to get a better look.

“No, the entire facility and factories are powered by the Arc Reactor Howard Stark built. It’s essentially all free energy,” Harley explained moving over to a terminal to read through the current project list, accessing the interface like he’d grown up with it.

 _‘Huh’_ Jake thought to himself, _‘Edwards at least knows his shit.'_

“Let’s get you all settled in. Unfortunately, you won’t be working on anything we went over in the meeting but let’s hope we can find something to keep you all entertained.”

Peter, much to his joy was assigned to monitor the wheat section of the crops, how much stress it took to trigger them into adapting, how long on average it took their cells to restructure, what conditions would cause what mutations. He was in a bio-engineering paradise.

Harley and Raven were working on different types of water purification systems at low production and maintenance costs, for developing countires.

******

A month had passed and Jake had to admit, he was impressed AND worried. Out of all of the new transfers that landed in Innovation, the three from New York were without a doubt, waves ahead of the rest. Don’t get him wrong, he still thought the others were hard working and dedicated but the initiative and creativity that Reyes, Richards, and Edwards displayed was unmatched. Raven wasn’t surprising, he had mentored her after all, but Reilly and Evan? Jacapo was right, they were leaps and bounds ahead of the game, not just brilliant but _eerily so_ , he hadn't seen them struggle once with their work, hadn't seen a moment of confusion or frustration. It was mildly unsettling.

That wasn’t why he was worried though. He was worried because he had no idea how he was going to manage to keep them all on. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what was in store for the R&D Department as a whole, it would have been hard enough looking out for everyone in the division before, without adding more fuel to the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special mentions to JudithAS who gave inspiration for the Intelli-crops.
> 
> Kudos and comments help me hate myself less.
> 
> <3


	4. And Terrible Things Happen To Wizards Who Meddle With Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley tries to make friends, a road trip happens and Hermione would be rolling in her grave.
> 
> Clexa makes a split second mention.
> 
> Always try to save yourself, if you can.

**New York 2024  
** **The Avengers Facility**

“Harley, what are we going to do about your past self? What happens when Mr. Stark goes to Tennessee during the Mandarin attacks and finds your younger carbon copy? He could get suspicious of you, _of us_.”

“He won’t, Pete,”

“He’s not blind Harley!”

“No, he’s not, but he also won’t be going to Tennessee this time around. We’re going to help him, _remember?_ He won’t need to go to Rose Hill so he’ll never meet mini-me and there won’t be anything for him to be suspicious of,” Harley explained breezing through as if they were talking about the weather.

“But…”

“But what?”

“But then he’ll never meet you Harls, the younger you I mean. I thought meeting Mr. Stark was one of the most important things in your life, hell, I thought it was THE most important thing.”

“It was, well it still is actually. Back then I was desperate to fill the spot my deadbeat dad left, it got me through a lot; knowing someone cared about me besides mom, knowing there was someone who understood me. Feeling a connection you can cling to like a lifeline, you know?”

“Then how could you take that away from him? From yourself?” Peter could feel his eyes water at the thought of a Harley out there somewhere lost in life, never getting the chance to feel that. 

“I-I don’t have a choice Peter,” Harley's voice broke mid-sentence as he stared off into space. “It’s too risky any other way so it’s a sacrifice I’m going to have to make, he’sgoing to have to make… _without even knowing it._ ”

Peter could feel his heart breaking just a little bit but he could see Harley’s gaze come back into focus.

“Besides, I have another idea for the young HK,”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to take a page out of the old man’s book.”

“I’m not following...” Peter could see a grin sliding onto Harley’s face, never a good sign.

“I’m not going to wait around for someone to save me, Tony never did.”

“Which means?” The eye glint was in full force, Peter shuddered.

“I’m going to save myself.”

 **LA 2008  
** **Stark Innovations Labs**

“Hey, Reyes! You got any plans for next week?” Harley called out to Raven as he worked on one of his side projects in the labs he got approval from Dr. Griffin for. Something that would become the first model Stark Phone, three years early. Revolutionary really, it would definitely get the attention of someone high up in the S.I. chain.

“Not really. I was going to head out east to visit the gang but Clarke's using the time to head up to Canada on a mini getaway with her new girlfriend Lexa and Bellamy’s offered to run security detail solo all week in New York so everyone else can have it off. _Masochist,_ ” Raven explained.

The mechanic had officially been missing for a month. Stane had announced that Stark Industries would be closing its doors and factories for a week as a sign of respect for its fallen CEO. The media ate that shit right up but Harley knew better, Stane is the scum of the earth and will _burn in hell_ when his pathetic life eventually ends. He had already uncovered everything he could on the Stark Servers to bring to Pepper’s attention once he was her assistant. Invoice discrepancies, missing stock reports, blank destruction requests, all that fun stuff. Shit-Stain will pay.

“Feel like tagging along on a road trip to bum fuck middle of nowhere Tennessee?” Harley lifted his head up at the sound of the shifter she was holding dropping to the floor.

“Evan Edwards, are you voluntarily asking me to hang out with you outside of a work setting? Besides driving me to or from said work? Are we friends now, Dr. Edwards?” He could hear the preening in her voice.

“Riles says I need to branch out. Get out of my comfort zone. Try to make friends,” God, he hates this.

“So?” Raven tilted her head, grinning.

“So this is me. Branching out. Getting out of my comfort zone. Trying to make friends. If I don’t then he’ll hit me with that sad crushed look, like the emotional manipulator he is,” Harley began to pack his station, securing the blueprints for the phone. “So are you in?”

“In? _Insane_ is more like it, I must be for agreeing to this.”

******

“So what’s in Tennessee anyway? And why are you dressed like _that?_ ” Raven asked as they flew down the highway in the Stang. It was Saturday morning when they left, now afternoon and she was a little more than surprised when she opened her front door to leave hours ago to see Edwards was _not_ in his signature black skinny jeans, combat boots, and vintage band tee. Instead, he was rocking red plaid that was honest-to-god tucked into a pair of blue jeans with a belt, what she could only assume were cowboy boots and an actual fucking Stenson. She must have fallen into an alternate reality, that was the only answer.

“Evan!” Reilly reached over to smack him on the arm.

“OW, RY! I’m driving!” Harley snapped as he swerved.

“This is going to be where I die isn’t it?” Raven asked sombrely before reaching forward to flick both boys on the ear.

“Jesus.”

“Sorry!”

“Evan, you didn’t tell her who we’re going to see? What the fuck man?”

“Oh bite me Richard’s, I branched out AND made a friend! I wasn’t about to spill all of my secrets straight off the bat, _take what you can get!_ ” Harley defended.

“Excuse you, you did NOTmake a friend, Raven doesn’t count!”

“Rude!” she yelled from the backseat.

“Doesn’t count because we were ALREADY friends with her,” Peter finished as Harley rolled his eyes.

“Oh,” Raven sat there blinking “well, moving on because patience is a virtue I do not possess. Where ARE we going? Who are we meeting and why are you dressed like that?”

“Rose Hill Tennessee, we’re going to meet the other family my good for nothing dad had after he ran out on me, and this is how I dress when I’m back south and I want to make a good impression.”

“Other family? BACK South? _Good impression?_ “ her voice got higher with each question. “I fucking knew it, this is an alternate reality,” she let out exhaling as the boys smirked. “Explain before I throw myself out of this car.”

“What is it with you and throwing yourself off things? Dramatic much?” Harley teased before sighing. “So remember how my dad walked out on me when I was like 5?” He could see Raven nod through the rearview mirror. "It turns out the S.O.B. ran off to a small town in another part of the state, found himself a new wife and had another two kids before, _and get this_ , fucking off YET AGAIN,” Harley let the lies flow from his mouth effortlessly like a well practice bedtime story.

Raven gasped, "No".

He may or may not have taken said gasp as a compliment to his subterfuge. Whatever. Healthy coping mechanisms were boring anyway.

“That’s brutal as fuck, what a straight-up asshole. I’m sorry, Evan,” she trailed off as he shrugged.

“I always _knew_ he was a good for nothing bastard but,” Harley let some of his own emotions bleed through, remembering how rough it had actually been for him at this time. Getting stuffed into lockers and walking home in the rain crying, eight years old and wishing that he’d die in his sleep. “But I wish I could’ve been there for my brother and sister.”

“He never knew he had other family out there,” Peter turned around to explain softly. “His mom and sister passed away in an accident just after our mentor did. Hit and run.”

Peter knew he would never be the artist Harley was with this kind of stuff so he did what all great liars do; sprinkle in just enough truth to make it seem real. Never mind that it was more of a _hit than a run_ , Mrs. Keener and Hannah had been dusted in the snap crossing the road. When they reappeared it was directly in front of oncoming traffic. Lying like this felt disrespectful to the dead and it made his skin crawl, but he knew he needed to get better at it.

“For the last three years, we’ve been all the other had. Team Evs and Ry 'till the day we die,” Harley smirked reaching over to clasp Peter's shoulder.

“Then how did you get from there to here?” Raven asked, feeling heavy.

“Like I said, good old Hunter Keener was a real piece of work, and I wanted the closure of seeing everything about the low life he was. I hacked every social network and government database I could without getting caught. The need to pry into all of his dirty secrets was consuming me, and then it all just faded away when I saw their birth certificates. Harley and Hannah Keener, right now they’re eight and five and I want their big brother to be a part of their lives.”

“ _Shit,_ Edwards,” Raven sighed. “and their mom?”

“Tracked her down from a phone book if you can believe it. Rose Hill is apparently like that. Gave her call, explained who I am, who my dad was, what happened to my mom, that I wanted to meet Harley and Hannah. She was surprisingly on board with it all, I think she could tell how important they are to me already, the fact that I’m a grown-ass adult is probably the only thing keeping her from adopting me. She works at a diner so we’ll go see her when she’s working on Monday and she told me I could pick the kids up from school once she makes sure I’m not a serial killer.”

“Well I guess you're shit out of luck then," Raven joked, "There’s one thing I don’t get though, Reilly’s your family so I get that but, are you sure you want _me_ there?” Raven asked self-consciously.

“One hundred percent, I want them to meet the people in my life. That includes you AND Riles.”

She could see the small smile on Peter’s face he was trying to hide.

“Well _shit,_ Edwards.”

It took them a good two and a half days to reach Tennessee and then Rose Hill. They stopped twice for the night at whatever motel they could find, the boys sharing one bed while Raven took the other. She could hear each of them wake up during the night, soft-spoken whispers filled with panic. Reilly would sound broken calling out before waking up and crying into Evan's shoulder. Edwards would always be up before either of them, sitting on his laptop with bags under his eyes.

Raven realized this was probably the most they’d ever shown of themselves to anyone in years.

******

It was just after one in the afternoon when they pulled up outside the diner. The bell on the back of the door rang as they pushed it open, the smell of freshly baked apple pie and cheeseburgers assaulted their senses.

Harley made his way up to the front counter where he could see his mom working. ‘ _Fuck,_ ’ he thought to himself, he’d forgotten how much he missed her. He could feel the tears well up in his eyes.

“Excuse me, _Mrs. Keener?_ ” he asked. As she turned to face him her eyes went wide.

“I’m Evan Edwards, we spoke on the phone last week?” he tried, feeling his accent slip out as he could see a tear fall out of the corner of her eye.

She spun around before walking out from behind the counter and wrapping her arms around him, she could feel him melt into the hug. Helen Keener pulled back to dry her eyes. “Lemme getta look at ya.”

“Yes ma’am,” Harley answered as he slipped his hat off.

“ _My_ ,” she let out breathlessly, “Well I’ll be darned, you look exactly like your father. Your brother too, I see him in your eyes and cheeks. Only older of course, but so very handsome. Now, don’t you go around breakin’ hearts or lettin’ it go to your head, do you hear me?”

He answered channeling his most earnest face he could muster and laying his drawl on thick. “Not a day in my life Mrs. Helen,” he could feel Raven and Peter's eyes rolling from behind him.

“Such a polite young man but don’t think I can’t see through you in a second,” Helen smiled looking over to the other two. “Hi there y’all, I’m Helen Keener. Evan’s… well, his stepmother I guess one would say.”

Harley jumped in to introduce them as they stepped forward, “This is Reilly and Raven, they’re my family ma’am.”

“Hello Mrs. Keener,” Peter stared as he and Raven held their hands out.

“Well if you're family then there’ll be none of that,” she explained enveloping them both “Now come get a seat and I’ll fix y’all somethin’ to eat before you get the kids,” before she headed to the kitchen.

“Y’all right there Reyes?” Harley teased, “your eyes look like they’re about to fall outta your head.”

“Who ARE you, Edwards?”

“I’m just a young man from a simple southern farm with a simple southern charm,” Harley grinned with a lazy wink before Rielly and Raven pelted him with sugar packets.

******

“Thank you so much for lunch ma’am, it was delicious,” Harley thanked as Hellen came over to clear their table, not that there was much to clear as Peter had stacked all of their plates and glasses neatly to one of the outer corners of their booth.

“Well bless your hearts,” Helen started before she looked to the bill on the table and her smile fell. “Evan, what’s this?” she asked picking up the four crisp one hundred dollar banknotes on the table.

“Please just take it,” he answered softly, pulling out the puppy dog eyes.

“That face doesn’t work when my son pulls it and it ain’t gonna work for you either honey,” he could see the mirth in her eyes, “But I’ll take one,” she tucked one of the notes into her apron before placing the rest back down on the table.

“No please, the food _alone_ was fifty. Please, just take one more?” Harley tried to beg.

“You’re a sweetheart honey, but one is plenty.” He knew what his mother was like, she always made sure that they had exactly what they needed but wouldn’t accept help for anything else unless it was Christmas or their birthdays. Both of which were nowhere near.

“Well, what about I take us out to dinner while I’m here? Nothing too fancy but someplace nice the kids would like? Please ma’am?” The puppy dog eyes were gone and he was going for honest and raw. “I’ve always wanted to be one of those families that goes out for dinner and is always _too_ loud and _too_ happy.” He trailed off.

“I _do_ have tomorrow night off I suppose,” Helen sighed. “Alright but nothin’ too extravagant Evan, I mean it, we’re ain’t leavin’ town.”

“Thank you thank you thank you,” Harley smiled, bright as the sun.

******

Harley was miserable. He had no one to blame but himself for getting his hopes up that today could’ve been different from any other. His mom had told him last night that he had a brother, an OLDER brother, a _cooler older brother_ who lived in LA that might be picking him up from school today. He’d probably take one look at him now, dripping in toilet water, turn around to run and then never step foot in Rose Hill again. Just like his dad. Whatever. At least the water would hide the fact that he was crying.

There were still people hanging around the school as he walked out the door towards the front steps. He could hear them all laughing, _‘Hardly a Keeper’_ they would say, _‘not even his own father wanted him’_ others would finish. He kept his eyes down and his face blank as he made his way down the steps. He didn’t even notice the cherry red stang sitting in front of the school.

“Evan is that him?” Peter asked watching him get closer as other kids knocked into him.

“Is he _wet?_ " Raven asked confused while Evan cursed under his breath.

“Ry, quickly grab my pack from the trunk,” Rielly leaped out over the door while Evan grabbed the spare towel he kept in the car from the glove box, running up the steps.

“Hey there buck-o,” Evan let slip as he came into Harley's sight, there was only ever one person who called him buck-o.

“ _D-Dad?_ ” Harley whispered hopefully as he froze, looking at the man in front of him who looked a lot like his father, only younger.

“I’m sorry Harley no, I’m your brother Evan,” the older Harley took a moment to look at himself. It was surreal. Like looking into a mirror except it didn’t show his face, _it showed his soul_.

"Is it all right if I have a hug?" Evan asked earnestly, holding out the towel.

Harley nodded wearily and before he knew it, was engulfed in a towel and a warm hug.

Evan lifted part of the towel to dry his face, wiping away the water and tears. He could see younger boy wanted to lean into his touch but remained rigid, weary.

Peter suddenly appeared running up the stairs, “Hey Evs, here’s you pack,” handing Evan his bag.

“Thanks, Ry,” he answered without taking his eyes of Harley. “Harley, this is Rielly. He’s my best friend which means now he’s yours too, after me of course.”

“Hi Harley, you can call me Riles or Ry if you want. That’s what all my best friends call me.” _‘_ _Peter fucking Parker and his lovable personality’_ Evan thought.

“Hi,” Evan could see Harley eying Peter wearily as if he could barely believe he was for real. _'You and me both kid’._

“Come on HK let’s go to the restroom, I need to pee,” Evan slipped his backpack on leading Harley forward, back inside the building.

Once they were there Evan put his backpack into one of the drier sinks and started going it through it. “Here you go bud, they’ll be a bit big but at least they’re dry,” he said handing over a vintage AC/DC tee and some drawstring gym shorts. “You might have to go commando though but it won’t be for long.”

“But it’s a forty-five-minute walk home?” Harley asked confused.

“We’re not walkin’ bud.”

“Oh."

“Once you get changed bring me back your wet clothes please,” he added fishing out a plastic bag from his pack.

“I thought you needed to pee?” Evan could hear his suspicion.

“Me too, don’t ya hate it when that happens?” Evan tried while Harley raised his eyebrow unconvinced.

"You know, you're practically a stranger to me, and now you've led me, _a child,_ alone might I add, into a restroom to undress." Harley sassed.

"Should I be expectin' Chris Hanson to pop out any second now?" Evan joked.

“How did you know?

“Watcha mean HK?”

“How did you know where the toilets are? There aren’t any signs for them on the first floor because visitors aren’t supposed to use them,” _Shit._

“Trust me, all schools are the same bud. If you’ve been to one you’ve been to them all,” Evan tried again with a grin on his lips.

“No, they’re not.”

“Huh?”

“All of the _other_ schools in the state might be designed the same but Rose Hill isn’t. It’s too small to warrant building a proper school here. That’s why there’s only one school for all ages. It was built during the civil war as a-”

“As a convalescence house for the wounded soldiers of the Confederacy, I know,” Evan finished. _Shit_. He’d forgotten how quick he was at this age.

“But HOW did you know?”

“Promise to keep a secret?” he asked getting down on his knees to look Harley in the eyes. Serious conversations with children HAD to have eye contact. Pepper taught him that.

“I promise,” Harley nodded seriously.

“I can’t tell you how, and people could get hurt if anyone ever found out but sometimes I know things _before_ they happen. Not all the time and not everything, but somethings,” he explained slowly.

“Like ESP?” little Keener whispered eyes wide.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Now come on HK, you’re starting to prune,” Evan tried joking but could see he wasn’t making any move towards the stall. Ugh. “I’m sorry but I can’t tell you how even though I want to, ok?”

“It’s not that it’s just- it’s just that,” Harley paused to take a breath. “Never mind,” he turned around to the stall to get changed leaving Evan feeling unsettled as his heart clenched.

Nothing good ever came from lying to yourself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re shout out to kjoboo the real OG


	5. And They’re Connected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter protec,  
> He attac,  
> But most importantly,  
> HE WANT HIS MR STARK BACK.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Let Your Love Flow’ by the Bellamy Brothers is a bop and it slaps.
> 
> Massive shout out to 'theplateofsoup' the artist behind the artwork used in this chapter.  
> Check them out at https://instagram.com/theplateofsoup?igshid=1uxievymyd1cx
> 
> I have a new posting schedule!  
> New chapters every Monday and Thursday mornings Australia Eastern Time.
> 
> For everyone else that's Sundays and Wednesdays 
> 
> Noon Pacific Time  
> 3PM East American Time  
> 8PM UK Time

**Upstate NY 2023**   
**The Stark Lake House**

“Everybody wants a happy ending. Right? But it doesn't always roll that way. So I thought I better record a little greeting, in the case of an untimely death, on my part. I mean, not that death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing we're gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. Then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I even tripping for? Everything's gonna work out exactly the way it's supposed to.”

 _“I love you 3000_.”

******

Peter’s entire body felt numb as if his cells were still in shock from being ripped apart then pulled back together again, which they probably were. He sat at the lakeside as everyone else started to head inside for the wake, staring off at the water, feeling like an empty husk being blown in the wind.

“Peter Parker?” he heard as he turned around to see someone was still out there, dirty blond hair with blue eyes clouded in despair.

“Yes?” Peter asked, voice raw.

“My name is Harley, nice to meet you.” The boy who looked to be his age reached out, holding his hand open with a look of hope on his face.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Peter replied automatically grasping onto his hand.  
“I’m sorry but, do I know you?”

“No, but Tony he uh- he told me about you before- back before we were all dusted,” Harley could feel the tears threaten to roll down his cheek, but he didn’t even care. “He said he was hoping to introduce us the next time I came up, so we could _‘get to know one another before I stick you both in MIT to compete for the position as child number one in my life’_ ” Harley recounted with the ghost of a smile,

Peter’s eyes went wide, “You’re his kid from Tennessee?!”

 _“His kid?”_ Harley choked.

“Keener right? He told me that you were connected,” Peter explained softly.

“Oh,”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah I just, I never knew he told anyone that,” Harley could feel his heart bursting, happy that his relationship with Tony wasn’t just in his head, and at the same time devastated that he would never see him again.

“We should probably head inside, are you here with anyone?” Peter started leading the way.

“No,” Harley whispered, “there’s no one left for me.”

******

Harley could see the moment Peter started to tense, jaw clenched, and fists balled. He followed his eye-line until it landed on one Steven Grant Rogers, across the room in the corner of the kitchen.

 _“Peter,”_ Harley said under his breath as Peter’s head snapped to his direction.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Peter was seething, how dare he stand here, after everything he’d done to Mr. Stark. How fucking dare he.

 _‘At least he didn’t kill Tony’s parents then turn up to his funeral without even wearing a suit.’_ Harley thought to himself, his eye catching the figure of James Barnes.

“Come on Peter let’s go out to the hallway,” Harley soothed, pulling him out of the room.

“Don’t you have any idea what he did? Mr. Stark almost DIED because of him, and he left him cold and dying in Siberia. _Alone_.”

“Peter! You know there’s more to it than that.”

“No there’s fucking not! Because that’s what he does Kenner, that’s what he ALWAYS does, what he’s done time and time again."

“What do you mean?” Harley asked confused.

“He’s always let Mr. Stark down, never once tried to stop him, always let Mr. Stark be the one to risk his life.”

“Peter you know that’s not true,” Harley tried to point out, surprised by the anger pouring out of Peter.

“YES, IT IS! The battle of New York? Who flew the nuke into the wormhole and _who made the call to close it?!_ Who spat in the face of the accords and who was left to fix the mess? Who left who dying alone in Russia? Who killed themselves bringing back HALF OF THE FUCKING UNIVERSE?!” Peter's voice cracked as he broke down into Harley's shoulder.

“You know that’s not fair Pete. There’s nothing anyone, not even Captain America could’ve done to change it and you know why. Tony wouldn’t have let him, he wouldn’t have let anyone else put themselves at risk if he could be the one in harm’s way. That’s who he was, who Iron Man was and it fucking sucks but that’s what we remember. _What he did for us_ , not what we think others did for him, okay?” Harley asked rubbing Peter’s back as he felt the tears soaking through his shirt.

“I just- why did it have to be him? Why was it always him? Why was he the one to die? It’s not fair, _I-I needed him_ , I’ve already lost so many,” Peter stuttered out, completely raw to the bone.

“I know, I miss him too.”

“Harley! Petey!” The boys turned their heads to see a young girl run up to them.

“Hello,”

“Hi,” Peter tried to pull himself together and dry his eyes.

She started tugging at their pants. “I missed you nearly _all_ the time! I knew Daddy would bring you back!”

“What’s your name pumpkin?” Harley asked, unsure as she dragged Peter and him towards a fireplace.

“It’s me! Morgan!” she giggled, “Come on, come on, come on. _Look!”_ she pointed, “See! It’s you, and there’s me with mommy and daddy, look!”

Harley felt like the room was spinning. There, on top of the mantle was his last school photo, framed and placed in the center along with one of Peter, surrounded by pictures of Tony, Pepper, and Morgan.

“Daddy told me about you ALL the time, said he wanted to make sure I ‘membered you so when he found you, I wouldn’t forget! My favorite was when Petey rescued all the cats from the trees and when Harley broke daddy’s finger in Ten’see!”

“He told you about us?” Harley was slipping off into thoughts of the mechanic making sure his daughter knew who he was.

“Yup! Every night, cause we’re connected.”

All he could do was stare in shock as waves ran down his cheeks, while Peter tried to pull his attention back.

“Harley?”  
“Harley?”  
“Harley are you okay?”

**Tennessee 2008**   
**Rose Hill Public School**

“Harley are you okay?” Evan called out as he knocked on the stall before it swung open.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m waitin' for you bud.”

“But why? Why are you in Rose Hill? Mom said you live in L.A, that’s days away and I’m sure there’s nothing here you can’t get or do out there.”

“I’m here for you buck-o, for you and Hannah.” Evan patiently explained.

“But WHY?” Harley asked, frustrated. He looked seconds away from tears.

Evan crouched down again and put his hands on his shoulders, looking him in the eyes. “Because I knew that you needed me, and to be honest, I needed you as well.”

“But how?” Harley whispered as Evan grabbed Harley’s hand and brought it up to his chest, then mirrored the action, placing his hand on Harley’s chest.

“Because we’re connected.”

******

“Woah! This is your car?!” Harley beamed, eyes wide.

“It sure is bud, well Riles and mine. We restored this baby ourselves,” Evan walked around to the driver’s seat door.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Harley asked in awe.

“Of course, I can bud. Now, this is Raven, my other best friend. She works with Ry and I at Stark Industries,” Harley answered as Raven raised her eyebrow, smiling at the mention of ‘best friend’.

“Hi Harley, you’re lucky that you’re a lot cuter than your older brother, _nicer hair too,_ ” Raven greeted, teasing Evan.

“Hi,” Harley said shyly, his face bright red. Peter took notice and turned to Evan, eyebrows waggled.

“In the back Ry,” Evan gestured tilting his head with a look on his face that said _‘not a fucking word Parker’_. Thank Judas himself that Raven had no idea who he really was. He could imagine the field day she would have if she knew his younger self had a crush on her.

“W-what? No, it’s okay! Reilly can sit in the front if he wants to, he doesn’t hafta move for me,” Harley mumbled looking down.

“Would you rather ride in back next to Raven?” Peter grinned as Evan smacked the back of his head.

“Move it Ry. Come on Harl, we’ve gotta go pick up Hannah from Mrs. Mapp’s.”

“But Reilly’s your best friend, don’t you wanna sit with him?”

“Riles is _your_ best friend too now bud. Besides, I wanna ride with my little brother shotgun. That way you can show us where to go, is that all right?” Peter had already jumped over the chairs to the back as Evan opened the door, waiting for Harley.

“All right,” Harley conceded, climbing into the seat.  
  
As they drove to get Hannah, he noticed his brother didn’t ask for directions at all on the way there. Not once.

******

Hannah liked going to Mrs. Mapp’s house while her mommy was at work. She was always kind, and nice, and had a daughter around her age that she would play with. Megan and she would play princess, and sing, and dance, and make flower crowns.

She wasn’t particularly upset, however, when she found out she was going to spend the next two days with her new, older brother and his friends.

Helen wouldn’t let them stay anywhere else when the boys tried to tell her they were happy going to a motel.

Harley couldn’t sleep, his mind was racing with thoughts about his brother. Even in his darkest moments, he could never have imagined something like this happening. There were times he’d daydream that his dad would come back home to them, but even then, in his fantasy, his dad was never like this, never like Evan. Evan _cared,_ he cared a lot and Harley could tell. Sure, there were times when he would joke and snark around but Harley could always see it behind his eyes, see how important everyone here was to him, how out of his way he went for Hannah and him. He didn’t know what he thought about that, didn’t know HOW to let someone take care of him, especially a big brother. He was in constant fear that he was going say or do something wrong and then Evan would leave, _just like dad._

Harley froze, thinking he was crying, only to touch his face and realize it was dry.

“Ry? Reilly, I’m here, it’s going to be okay,” Harley heard coming from the living room. Evan and Reilly were sleeping on a mattress on the floor, Raven in the only spare room they had.

Harley poked his head around his door to see Reilly shivering as he cried in his sleep. He could see Evan slide one of his arms underneath Reilly's neck, lifting him up slowly he used his free hand to wipe away his tears.

Evan spoke softly, rocking Peter in his arms trying to coax him awake. “Reilly, Riles, we’re okay Ry. Follow my voice, _I’ve got you.”_

Peter’s eye opened shooting up straight, looking around the room scared as he latched onto Evan. “I’m sorry Evs, it felt like I was being blown to dust.”

“It’s alright Ry, do you want some water?”

“N-no it’s okay, can we cuddle though? Please?”

“Ew, fine. Yes, we can cuddle you dork,” Evan smiled as they both laid down. It was only seconds before he could hear Peter falling asleep, his breathing evening out. “You all right there buck-o?” He asked turning to Harley who moved back behind the door, embarrassed at being caught out.

“Yup.”

“Do you want a hug bud?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?"

“Okay,” Harley whispered as he quickly ran over to smash into Evan's other side.

Evan wrapped his other arm around him and kissed him on the forehead.

“Night bud,” Evan yawned as Harley ran off, as quickly as he appeared.

Harley had never slept so well before in his life.

******

“Good mornin’ Princess,” Evan stood at the range flipping pancakes, “Did you sleep well?” he asked kneeling down to give Hannah a kiss on the head while she rubbed her eyes, yawning.

“Hi Evan, are you makin’ pancake?” she asked, climbing onto a chair as Raven walked out of the bedroom, the side of her head that she slept on looked to be defying gravity and she looked possessed.

“Mornin’ Reyes- Jesus H Christ and I thought Reilly was bad in the mornings! At least you’re up, I’ll give you _that.”_ Evan smirked turning the burner off and bringing the stack of pancakes to the table.

“Bite me, Edwards,” Raven replied making a beeline for the coffee.

“Helen’s already at the diner, I’m gunna drop Harls off at school after the boys have eaten. Riles will probably go straight back to bed, do you think you’ll be able to keep an eye on Han? I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Mmmmmm,” Raven sighed, drinking her coffee as she gave Evan a thumbs up. Apparently, it was still too early for fully formed sentences.

Harley woke up to the sound of his door opening. Looking around as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he realized it was Evan, going through a duffel bag.

“Morning’ Harl," Evan smiled as he turned around to change into black skinny jeans and a faded Iron Maiden shirt. “Pancakes are waiting for you on the table.”

“Pancakes?” Harley asked smiling as he turned his gaze to his alarm clock before sitting up straight and jumping out of bed in a panic.

“WHAT? I must’ve slept in!” he said worried, running to his dresser.

“Hey, hey, slow down. You’ve got plenty of time bud.” Harley soothed.

“Only if I leave really soon, like really REALLY soon. School is like, nearly an hour away, and I really wanted pancakes. Mom always works in the morning, so I _never_ get pancakes.” Harley's eyes looked downcast as Evan rubbed his shoulder.

“I’m driving you to school bud, you can eat all the pancakes you want, alright?”

“Oh. Is everyone goin’ somewhere?”

“Huh?”

“Is my school on the way to somethin’?”

“No buck-o, everyone’ll probably be half asleep until eleven,” Evan explained.

“Oh... Are you sure? I don’t mind walkin’”

“Yeah bud _I’m sure,_ I want to spend some time with my favorite brother. That alright with you HK?”

“Yeah,” Harley answered with a smile that threatened to split his face in two. He knew that _technically_ he was Evan's only brother, but he didn’t care, he wanted to hold onto this feeling and keep it forever.

When Harley came out to eat Evan couldn’t help but notice that he was dressed in black jeans and one of his Metallica shirts. “Lookin’ good bud,” Harley smiled as he ruffled his hair.

******

Harley wished the drive to school would never end. Driving with the top down, his brother singing ‘Let Your Love Flow’, he started to think Rose Hill wasn’t that bad, not if Evan was here with him.

 ** _“So let that feelin’, grab you deep inside, and send you reelin’, where your love can’t hiiiiide.”_** Evan sang, smiling as he looked over.

“You alright HK?”

“Evan, you and Rielly are different, aren't you?”

“Different _how_ bud?” Evan asked concerned, _‘Leave it up to my younger self to figure out what’s actually going on’._

“You guys have feelin's and stuff, like around, and in front of each other.”

 _‘Oh,’_ Harley thought, _‘That’s not what I was expecting’._

“Is this about last night?” He prodded.

“Kinda, yeah. You’re not afraid to cry in front of each other, or hug, or be nice, or care or- or act like you love each other.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Good, I think? It’s nice... I wish I had a friend like that.” Harley trailed off.

“You do bud, you’ve got _two_ now, AND Raven,” Evan teased winking as Harleys face started to burn.

“Can I tell you somethin’ bud?”

“If you want.”

“Never be afraid to feel things, Harl. Never be afraid to tell people you love them. Or if you can’t do that, show them you love them... _in your own way.”_

“Like how you ALWAYS pretend Raven annoys you? Or when you roll your eyes whenever Rielly says something nice?”

“Jesus, you’re a perceptive little runt, aren’t ya?” Evan laughed as Harley grinned.

“Always make sure you let your feelin’s out bud, otherwise they build up and you getta bad heart,” that was something Harley knew all too well.

“I’m not just perceptive Evs, I could tell.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that HK?” The shit-eating grin he saw Harley break out into was like looking into a mirror.

“Because we're connected, _remember?”_ Harley answered before Evan cackled and rolled his eyes.

He turned the radio up as Harley joined him, singing.

**_“Let you love fly, like a bird on the wing, and let your love bind you, to all livin’ things, and let your love shine, and you’ll know what I mean, that’s the reason.”_ **

******

“Come on bud, let’s go,” Evan said as he started to open his door.

“What? You’re coming too? _Why?”_

“I just need ta talk to the school office, I want ta add Rielly’s and my contact information down for you, just in case anything' happens while your mom’s at work, see?” Evan said as he pulled out a ‘Student Change of Contact Form’ signed by Helen, “And if I get to walk my little brother up the front steps then who am I to go against the good lord's divine plan?” Evan winked.

Harley braced himself for the worst. He could already see that everyone around them had stopped what they were doing and watched as he stepped out of the car. Before he could grab his backpack, Evan snatched it off the floor and swung it over his shoulder.

“Let’s go buck-o,” Evan rhymed.

Any second now the comments were going to start. Harley could see Matt Monroe making his way over, from the corner of his eye.

“Hey _Hardly?_ Finally found someone to keep ya?” Matt sneered as Harley looked at his feet, silent.

“Why don’t you fuck off on your own accord before I make you fuck off, you little shit?” The color drained from Matt’s face as Evan stared down at him furious.

After taking a second he slid his arm around Harley's shoulder and led him up the steps and through the doors.

“Harley, I’m sorry about that,” Evan began.

“With Monroe? What? _Why?_! It was epic!”

“No, it wasn’t,” Evan crouched down, this was definitely an eye contact kind of situation. “Harley, I need you to listen to me carefully, okay?” he asked, waiting for Harley to nod.

“You can’t attack everyone who’s mean to you. Standin’ up for yourself is one thing, but what I said to that kid out front was wrong, do you understand that? That old sayin’ everyone loves to say is true, you can’t fight fire with fire. Trust me bud, I’ve been burnt too, and remember what we talked about in the car? How bottlin’ your feelin’s can be bad for your heart? **Hate will eat you alive if you let it.** Now, if anyone makes fun of you, or says mean things you’re allowed to stand up for yourself, got it? But don’t tear others down to bring yourself up. That’s important.”

Harley listened carefully like Evan asked but he didn’t think what he was talking about would be a problem. When stuff like that happened, he normally said nothing, did nothing.

“But if they ever touch you, push you into lockers, shove you, hit you or, or stick your head into a toilet again, I need you to SWEAR to me that you’ll tell a teacher.” Evan was met with silence.

“Harley, please? It tears me apart thinking what those bullies do to you and get away with.”

“It doesn’t matter Evan, I don’t care what they do to me,” Harley spoke quietly, ashamed.

“Bud,” Evan sighed, “but what about the _other_ people they do it to?”

“Other people?”

“Bullies like that don’t just pick one victim Harl, you can bet there are other kids out there they pick on, too afraid to say anythin’, sufferin' in silence,” If only Harley could understand he was one of those kids. “Would you do it for them?” He knew it was a dirty trick, playing up to Harley's concern of others.

“Okay Evan, if they do it to me again I’ll tell, I swear. _”_

“Thanks, bud, I owe you one,” He said handing over his pack and giving him a tight hug. “I’ll be back to pick you up when school finishes, we’ll go home to getcha changed ‘cause we’re goin’ someplace nice for dinner tonight. Have a good day buck-o, I love ya.”

“Bye,” he said quietly before heading off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks.
> 
> Never be afraid to feel,  
> Never be afraid to love and,  
> Never let hate win.
> 
> Next chapter will be out:
> 
> Thursday 27/02/2020 in Australia,  
> Wednesday 26/02/2020 everywhere else.


	6. And Fate Is a Cruel Mistress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feels, karaoke, and the intricacies of time travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gold Dust Woman, September and Neon Moon are all classics that I strongly advise you listen to if you haven't already.
> 
> Massive shout out again to 'theplateofsoup' the artist behind the artwork used in this chapter.  
> Check them out at https://instagram.com/theplateofsoup?igshid=1uxievymyd1cx
> 
> "The ones who love us never really leave us, you can always find them in here."  
> Sirius Black knew what was up.

**Tennessee 2008**   
**Rose Hill**

“Mornin’ ma’am, I’m here to update my little brother's contact information please,” Evan explained as he handed the form over to the lady behind the desk, ‘Mrs. Semeneck’ the sign read.

“Good morning young man, may I have his name?” she answered primly, no trace of a southern accent to be found.

“Harley Keener ma’am, I also have a meetin' with Mr. Owens at nine,” Alright, so maybe he didn’t tell Harley he also had a meeting with the principal, _technically_ not a lie.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have anything in Mr. Owens planner today for a Mr. Keener,” Mrs. Semeneck scrunched her eyebrows before flipping through the book she was holding, again.

“Doctor Evan Edwards. Harley and I have different last names,” Evan explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry Doctor Edwards. Please take a seat, he should be free in a second.”

******

“Hello Mr. Owens, I’m Harley Keener’s older brother, Dr. Edwards, pleasure.” Evan reached out to shake the Principal's hand. Mr. Owens was a kind-hearted man, you could see it in his open face, warm smile, and calming demeanor.

“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Evans, I must admit, I was surprised when you made the appointment today. Is everything okay with Harley?” Principal Owens asked concerned.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, Harley isn’t like most kids, mainly sticks to himself, talks back to teachers-“

“He does exhibit anti-social behavior, yes, but he’s also exceptionally bright, and never starts trouble. His teachers are a little worried about him though,” Owens trailed off.

“Worried?” Evan could never remember his teachers being worried.

“They can see him close himself off more day by day, retreat into himself, put up walls, that kind of thing. It could become a serious problem for him later on in life. Social and developmental setbacks in childhood can often carry over into later stages of life, with harmful consequences.”

Evan could only sit there in shock, blinking, “I-I didn’t realize how serious the situation is, I know he’s been havin’ some trouble from bullies but, I never could’ve imagined how badly it affected him.” He was racking his brain trying to remember his state of mind when he was eight, did he retreat into himself? Did he close himself off, bit by bit, day by day? _Was Harley?_

“Excuse me, Dr. Edwards, did you say bullies?” Owens interrupted, snapping Evan back into attention.

“Yes sir, that’s why I wanted to meet with you today. I know Harleys had some issues with other kids,” Evan started.

A frown settled on Mr. Owens's face, “As far as I’m aware he’s never said anything to a member of staff.”

“No, he wouldn’t have. I’ve spoken to him about that though, about bottlin' everything up and lettin’ others pick on him without saying nothin’ to his teachers, I’m just hopin’ it’s somethin’ he sticks to.”

“What exactly’s been goin’ on Dr. Edwards?” the Principal asked, his accent slipping through.

“Kids being’ kids mostly, making fun of the fact that our dad walked out, pushin’ him into lockers, a swirly or two.” Evan trailed off.

“I’m troubled to hear that, but you have my word that I’ll be keeping an eye out for your brother.”

“Thank you, Mr. Owens. You mentioned somethin’ about social setbacks carrying over when he gets older. What kind of setbacks were you talkin’ about?” Evan asked concerned.

“I wouldn’t want you to worry unnecessarily, but in some cases, when young children put up walls and close themselves off to others it can cause issues in their emotional regulation and, in extreme cases, can lead to emotional repression.”

“Emotional regulation?” Evan was afraid to ask.

“Learning to self-regulate is a key milestone in a child’s development, it lays the foundation for healthy relationship skills as they get older. Learning to control your emotions, lest they control you. Children who fail to learn this can often act out over minor inconveniences or have unrealistic expectations of others.”

“That doesn’t really sound like Harley,” Evan tested.

“No, it isn’t. In his case, he may do the opposite, _repress_ his emotions. Restrict himself from not just feeling too much, but anything at all. Isolate himself from others, from making healthy relationships, from letting himself feel the things he needs to. That kind of behavior can have detrimental impacts on his adult life. He could have difficulty sharing emotions with the people around him or forming meaningful connections.”

“Oh,” Evan felt like he’d been slapped in the face. Was this why he is the way he is? Why he guards himself around others with snark and sass?

“I will say though, it sounds like you’re doing a good job to get him to open up, keep doing that and I dare say it’ll help put him on the right track.” Mr. Owens smiled.

 _‘Help him open up,’_ Evan thought, _‘Right’._

******

“What do I do Ry? Am I overreacting? The things the principal talked about, _did they happen to me?_ Am I closed off? I don’t think I am, but what if that’s because of Tony? What if Harley turns out different? Oh my god, am I projecting my issues onto him? Is he actually fine?” Evan's mouth was racing a mile a minute as he talked himself around in circles.

Raven jumped at the chance to take the Stang, along with Evan's card, and go out with Hannah to find a new dress for dinner, so the boys could talk.

“Does it still count as projecting if you’re doing it to a younger version of yourself?” Reilly asked, his voice rising at the end.

“Reilly!” Evan shouted, “Not helping.”

“Look, the principal said he just needs to open up, right? Remove some of the walls he has?”

Evan nodded in reply.

“Well, you’re already doing that so... just keep on keeping on?”

“But what happens when we leave? We’re only here for a few days before we head back, and we’ve got so much to do, I’m worried he’ll fall back to how he was when we’re gone.”

Peter didn’t really have an answer for that.

“We’ll figure it out Evs, he’s a good kid. We’ll make it work.”

**New York 2023**   
**Victorian Gardens Amusement Park**

“Hey Petey,” Morgan asked as they waited for Harley to come back with churros.

“What’s up Princess?”

“When do you think daddy will come home?” Morgan asked quietly.

“Huh?” Peter felt a pit form in the bottom of his stomach.

“It’s been ages, isn’t he going to be back soon?”

“He’s not coming back Maguna,” Harley answered, pressing the churros into Peter’s hand and picking her up. “Do you remember that day you met Peter and me at the lake house?”

“Yes, you and Petey were sad... _everyone_ was sad.”

“Do you know why they were sad Morgs?” Harley questioned.

“Not really, was it because daddy wasn’t there?” Peter could see her forehead furrow.

“That was part of it Maguna,” Harley explained, “They were sad because he’s gone, and he isn’t coming back. I’m sorry Princess, but daddy isn’t coming home.”

“But isn’t someone going to get him back? Like how he brought you and Petey back?” Morgan asked confused.

“I’m sorry Maguna, that’s not how it works.” Harley felt like a piece of shit.

“Oh,” Morgan looked down, churros forgotten. _“But I miss him,”_ she trailed off.

“It’s okay to miss him Morgs, we do too,” Peter spoke with a far-off look in his eyes, “Harley and I lost our Mommy and Daddies too, but I’ll tell you a secret?”

“Yes please,” Morgan looked up with hopeful eyes.

“The ones that we love never _really_ leave us, isn’t the right Harls?” Harley smiled as an ache inside him settled.

“That’s right Morg, you can always find them,” He continued pressing his hand to her chest, “ **In here.** ”

“Here you go Princess,” Peter handed over one of the churros as Harley held her, walking through the fair.

“Thank you, Peter,” Morgan smiled, she didn’t really understand what the boys were saying, and she still missed her daddy, but knowing that he didn’t really leave her made her feel better. He was still here, she just couldn’t see him. That’s all.

**Tennessee 2008**   
**Rose Hill**

“Here you go, Princess.”

“Thank you, Reilly,” Hannah said as Peter finished tying her hair back with a ribbon to match the light blue dress Raven had helped her find at the store.

“Well now, don’t y’all look cute all matchy-matchy like?” Evan grinned as he walked through the front door with Harley, having just picked him up from school. Peter was wearing a shirt in the same shade of blue as Hannah’s dress, with blue jeans and a tan belt.

 _“We won’t be the only ones,”_ Raven smirked as she walked out of the bathroom, in a flowing periwinkle dress, holding up another two shirts on hangers and handing Peter one of three cream-colored stetsons.

Once the other two boys were changed and their hair brushed back, they all piled into the Stang to meet Helen at The Buffs, a country-style steak house that was big with families.

As they pulled up and the kids got out of the car Peter turned to Evan, “The Buffs? I thought you said you hated this place when you lived here? Didn’t it remind you of your dad?”

“It did, but I didn’t hate it, and neither does he,” Evan answered nodding his head in Harley's direction.

Walking inside Evan looked around, it had been years since he’d been here last, just over a decade now. He took in the sound of arcade games over to the side of the main seating area, and a couple signing karaoke on a low stage near the bar.

“Evan!” Helen called out from an empty table just off the front of the stage. As Evan led everyone towards her, she stood up, wearing a delicate blue dress that gently ruffled out from her thighs to where it ended at mid-calf. Her hair was pulled up with blond curls falling to frame her face, Evan had forgotten how beautiful she was, it made his heartache.

“Wow mom, you look great.” Evan greeted as he hugged her before freezing and pulling back. “Er, I’m sorry ma’am, _I-I didn’t mean-_ “

“It’s quite alright Evan,” Helen smiled warmly before she moved on to say hello to everyone else while Evan shuffled back, embarrassed.

“My, see how nice y’all look, such beautiful women and handsome young men. Thank you for my dress Evan, even if it is much too much. Come on now, let’s all sit down.”

 _“Your dress?”_ Evan asked confused as he slipped his hat off along with the other boys.

“The one you got Raven to drop off for me at work,” Helen answered.

Raven elbowed Evan as they sat down.

“Oh yes! You’re welcome ma’am, it’s no problem at all,” Evan caught on while mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Raven.

******

“So, is there anyone special in your lives, boys?” Helen asked as they were all picking over the last of their plates.

“No.”

“Not particularly,” Evan answered as Raven snorted.

 _“Oh really?”_ Helen pressed with a grin.

“Not since we left New York maybe,” Raven continued.

“I wish,” Evan rolled his eyes, “Bellamy, the head of security in New York, quite the looker. I never really got the chance to find out, he wasn’t transferred with the rest of us,” he went onto explain, he could see Harley's eyes widen but he knew his mother minded not one bit that he was gay.

“I’m sure there’s a nice young man out there for you somewhere honey,” she smiled as Raven stood up.

“Alright guys, I know we didn’t just come here to eat, who’s ready for karaoke? I’ve already put your name down boys.”

“What?! Raven no! I can barely carry myself, left alone a note!” Peter exclaimed nervously.

“Come on Richards, live a little,” she teased, throwing down a song list as she walked up to the mic.

Evan had to admit, as Raven sang Fleetwood Mac, she was actually pretty good.

**_“Rack on gold dust woman, take your silver spoon, dig your grave.”_ **

“Ravens quite the young lady,” Helen said in awe, “How long have you three been friends?”

“Not long,” Peter was flipping through the karaoke list at the table.

“Nearly two months now, we met her when we started in New York,” Evan finished.

 _“Really?”_ Mrs. Keener blanched, “Two months in and she tagged along with you to drive thirty-three hours across the country to visit your younger siblin’s and stepmother you’ve never met?”

“Huh. I guess I never thought of it like that. To be honest, I only asked her if she wanted to come to Tennessee, I didn’t tell her who we were goin’ to see until we were already on our way here and she asked,” Evan recalled and Peter rolled his eyes. Thinking about it, he wasn’t quite sure _why_ she agreed to come along.

“Raven sounds like a good person to be friends with, the kind of person you hold onto and never let go of, the kind of person you stay friends with for life.” Evan had to admit, he had a feeling that Helen was right.

The sound of applause shook him from his thoughts as Raven made her way back to the table.

“That was incredible Raven, you have a beautiful voice,” Helen complimented as Raven sat down.

“Raven, what’s a Gold Dust Women?” Hannah asked as the adults laughed.

“I’ll tell you about it when you’re older darlin’,” Helen said as Hannah frowned.

“Alright Richards you’re up,” Raven grinned bumping Peter in the shoulder.

Evan raised his eyebrow as he watched Peter talk to the man behind the bar for longer than he should have, before eventually making his way to the stage.

“Hi everyone,” Peter said speaking into the mic, “I’ve been forced up here against my will, so to save you all from my unfortunate musical stylings I’m going to be doing something different, I hope that’s okay.” He finished, met with chuckles.

Evan could barely contain himself as the opening bars to Earth, Wind and Fire played out. Raven wasn’t so composed, choking on her drink as she laughed.

_**“Do you remember, the twenty-first night of September? Love was changing the minds of pretenders, while chasing the clouds away.”** _

Peter was dancing his way across the stage, arms pointing and hips thrusting like he was at a 70’s disco tech.

“He may not be the best singer but _good lord_ that boy can dance.” Helen laughed, clapping to the beat.

“Riles used to love goin’ out dancin’ when we were at MIT,” Evan remembered fondly.

**_“Ba de ya say do you remember, ba de ya dancing in September.”_ **

Raven looked as if Christmas had come early, watching Reilly spin his arms around while people across the restaurant cheered and whistled.

Harley was smiling wide, hopping around in his seat, eyes crinkled. Evan could never remember looking this happy at his age. The smile was still on his face when Rielly finished and came back to join them, out of breath.

“Reilly Richards you sly dog! You and I are going out dancing when we get back to LA!” Raven laughed as Peter fanned himself off.

“Ten out of ten for stage presence Ry!” Evan grinned, clapping him on the back.

 _‘Alright, get him to open up,’_ Evan thought as he centered his resolve. “Hey HK, what do you think about comin’ up there with me?”

Evan could see the smile on his face turn to dread in an instant, _‘Is this too much too soon?’_

“C’mon buck-o, you can just stand next to me, I promise you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to,” Evan tried, telling himself that if Harley said no, he wouldn’t push him any further.

“What song?” Harley asked reluctantly.

“Neon Moon,” Evan answered as a look settled onto Helen's face.

 _“Okay,”_ Harley mumbled as Evan grinned, grabbing both of their stetsons, leading him over to speak to the man behind the bar, grabbing two stools before carrying them onto the stage.

Once they were seated next to each other, mic in hands the music started.

 _ **“When the sun goes down, on my side of town. That lonesome feelin’, comes to my door, and the whole world turns,”**_ Evan sung before turning to face his brother, _**“Blue.”**_

 ** _“There’s a rundown bar across the railroad track, I gotta table for two way in the back, where I sit alone,”_ **Evan nodded, encouraging Harley to join in as he finished the verse, _**“and think of losing you,”** _they sang together before Evan pulled his mic back with a glint in his eyes letting Harley take the lead.

 _ **“I spend most every night, beneath the light, of a Neon Moon,”**_ Harley let the words pour out of him, lyrics engrained on the back of his heart, looking over to Evan as his brother sang into his mic again, letting their voices mix together.

**_“If you lose your one and only, there's always room here for the lonely, to watch your broken dreams dance in and out of the beams, of a neon moon.”_ **

“Mrs. Keener, are you alright?” Peter asked as tears ran down Helen’s face.

“Oh, I’m sorry honey, it’s just- Harley used to love this song whenever Hunter played it, around the house, drivin’ through town, he’d sing it at the top of his lungs. Whenever he hears it _now_ though, he likes to pretend that he doesn’t remember,” She explained, drying her eyes. “I’m so thankful he’s lettin’ himself sing it again.”

******

“Ry, could you please drive my mother home?” Evan whispered under his breath as they went to round the kids up from the arcade section.

“Of course Evan, you don’t have to ask.” Peter smiled as he felt Evan slide an arm around his shoulder and lean in close.

“I love you, Pete.”  
“I love you too Harl.”  
“P and K?”  
 _“All the way.”_

The boys allowed themselves this one slip up.

******

It didn’t take long for Harley and Hannah to pass out in the back of the Stang.

“You’re a pretty good guy Edwards, did you know that?” Raven commented as Evan drove them home.

“Careful Reyes, you wouldn’t want my head to get any bigger now, would you?” Evan joked.

“I mean it, not a lot of people care as much for their family, especially family they didn’t know they had.” Raven carried on.

“I know, thanks, Raven. Hey, can I ask you somethin’?”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you come with us here? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you did but... we haven’t known each other that long? I guess what I’m saying is, most people wouldn’t agree to come on a trip like this with someone they’ve only know for a couple of months, so thank you.” Evan could feel himself breaking out in hives.

“Well, it probably sounds cheesy but, the moment I met you and Richards in the labs in New York I had this feeling that we would be best friends. Does that make sense?”

Evan looked back on the first time he met Peter at the Lake House, “Yeah,” he smiled, _“That makes sense.”_

******

Thursday morning came around in what felt like the blink of an eye for Harley. The last three days had been like something from a dream, lacing him in a feeling of contentment he didn’t think existed, not for people like him. His mom was already at work, having said her goodbyes last night, Evan cooked chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast but they tasted like cardboard in Harley's mouth.

Reilly had convinced him to move to the front seat when Evan had taken Hannah into Mrs. Mapp’s.

Evan could see the tension in Harley's jaw, watching the boy throw his walls back into place as they stopped out in front of the school.

“C’mon HK, it’s time to go bud.” Evan sighed walking around to open his door.

“So that’s it, now you’re just gonna leave? _Like dad?”_ Evan had to admit, hearing his own words thrown back at him felt like a punch to the gut.

“I have to get back to LA for work Harl, but I’m not leaving you, not really. I’ll be back to visit whenever I can, Ry and Ray too. I promise.”

Harley did not look convinced.

“Besides, I have a present for you to help,” Evan reached into the center consul to pull out a shiny new smartphone and handed it over.

“ _Woah,_ ” Harley was impressed as he turned it over in his hands, “I didn’t know Start Industries made phones, where are the buttons?”

“It doesn’t have any buttons buck-o, “Evan explained tapping the screen twice as the display lit up, “And it hasn’t been released yet, it’s the first edition StarkPhone.”

“If it hasn’t been released yet, why do you have one?” Harley asked as he started playing around, trying to get used to the interface.

“Who do you think invented it bud?” Evan winked while Harley's jaw dropped.

“You invented this?!”

“Betcha ass I did,” Evan grinned, _technically_ it wasn’t a lie and Evan lived for technical truths. “Now you can text and call me as much as you like and I promise I’ll try to answer when I can, okay?”

“Okay,” Harley answered quietly while Evan wrapped his arms around him.

“Never forget that I love you buck-o, and don’t forget to call!”

“I won’t, love you too Ev,” Harley responded as he pulled back to walk into the school, stopping halfway to turn around and wave one last time.

Evan could only hope that he would be all right.

**Upstate New York 2025**   
**The Avengers Facility**

“Hey, Harley?” Peter called out and he scrolled through lists of events, dates, and markers the two had deemed as important to remember.

“What’s up Pete?” Harley answered distracted as he fabricated a vibranium case for the Asgardian pocket watch they would be using to jump back.

“What do we do if any of this changes?” Peter asked, tapping his stylus against the bench.

“If any of what changes?” Harley turned around, lifting his goggles sending his hair sticking up in all directions, welder in hand.

“The events we know to be true, the events that lead to the markers we need to happen. What happens if we make too many changes and the whole thing falls apart? Harley what if instead of making the future better _we make it worse?”_

“You mean like the ripple effect?” Harley turned the welder off, walking towards Peter’s station.

“Yes, exactly! What happens if we cause ripples that disrupt the timeline beyond what we can predict? We’ll be going in blind, making it up as we go along!”

“I’ve been going through Tony’s notes on the time travel technique he developed when they went into the past to retrieve the infinity stones, as well as what Dr. Banner observed when Captain Rodgers traveled to the past to return them, before staying behind.” Harley began as he pulled up the Time Heist files. “From what they could tell time is a current, more likened to a river than a pond. Sure, if you make a big enough splash the surface of the river will change for a second, but the stream will correct itself pretty soon after. It’s why they couldn’t change the past to stop the snap from happening.”

“Right, but aren’t we trying to change the past to stop the snap from happening?”

“Yes and no, think of it like this, what the Avengers did was travel back up the river to grab something and bring it back down, all the waves they made doing that, the current corrected, you following so far?”

“Yeah, I think,” Peter could feel a headache start to settle in.

“We’re not going back up the river, _we’re getting out_ and walking around it, once we’re far back enough, what we do will change the course of the river completely. The Artefact we’re going to use will create an alternate timeline and close this one off once we’ve jumped back.”

The ethics of essentially ending this world alone were enough to send Peter dizzy, “Then we’re back to my point! If we’re going to be in a new timeline, what do we do when things we can’t predict start to change?”

“Most things won’t,” Harley stated simply as he pulled up the telemetry and quantum readouts from Roger’s suit that he had returned as a seventy-year-old man.

“Do you see this Pete? It’s the quantum signatures from the alternate timelines Captain Rogers traveled to, the ones he closed off,” Harley pointed out as row after row of mathematic equations appeared on the holo screen, “it’s essentially the base print of those timelines, all different in significant ways, but, if you peel back the outer layers and account for the changes the avengers made.” Harley explained as his fingers flew across the interface and the information on the screen reassembled itself.

“The same mathematical patterns repeat,” Peter’s eyes widened, _“How is that possible?”_ He turned to Harley stunned.

“I can only theorize, but from what I can see it could be classified as emergence. The different timelines as a whole seem to share the same properties that on their own, do not exist, or at least aren’t visible. The fact that they’re so similar could prove multiverse theory but I think it’s more than that. I think it’s possible that parts of the different timelines or ‘universes’ as they could be classified, bleed into each other. Like pages of a book that are pressed together before the ink dries. Somethings always stay the same, in every reality.”

 _“Like fate?”_ Peter asked blown away.

“Yeah, I guess it could be described as that. From what the sensors on Roger’s suit manager to record, everything else in the alternate timelines he traveled to was the same, even after they made their incursions. Everything except for the circumstances surrounding the infinity stones and the direct changes the Avengers made, stayed the same.”

“So, it’s reasonable to expect that the same will be true for us,” Peter finished.

“Bingo.”

**LA 2008**   
**The West Hills**

It was Sunday afternoon by the time the three doctors were back in LA.

Peter and Harley were unpacking and sorting through their laundry when Raven came bursting into their apartment.

“We’ve only been apart for a half-hour Reyes, do you miss us that much already?” Harley asked slyly.

“Turn the TV on right now,” Raven said rushing towards the remote.

“Raven, what’s going on?” Peter asked, worried.

“I just got a message from Clarke, they’ve found Mr. Stark and he’s giving a press conference now at HQ.”

“What?!” Peter exclaimed as he watched the blood run from Harley's face. This was wrong, Mr. Stark shouldn’t have been found for at least another month, Peter was sure of it.

The TV flicked on to life and the image of Mr. Stark appeared.

“I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them, and I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability.”

Peter had watched this interview countless times, to him, it was one of the pivotal moments in his childhood hero-worship of Mr. Stark. He was saying all of the right words, but everything else was off. Mr. Stark wasn’t sitting down like he was supposed to, and neither were the reporters. His arm was missing the sling he should’ve worn, his hair was slicked back, and his signature goatee was crisp and tidy. Obadiah Stane was also nowhere to be found.

“And that is why _effective immediately_ I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries.”

Raven gasped as the reporters on the TV broke out into chaos.

Peter and Harley exchanged a look of concern, both thinking the same thing.

_'So much for fate.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, things are starting to kick off.
> 
> Next chapter will be out:
> 
> Monday 02/03/2020 in Australia,  
> Sunday 01/03/2020 everywhere else.


	7. And The Shit Is About To Hit The Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are shaping up to be really odd.
> 
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**LA 2008**   
**Stark Industries Headquarters**   
**Monday Morning**

Headquarters was a shit show of fuckery when Raven and the boys went into the office on Monday morning. Reporters were camped outside the main entrance and the mezzanine level was full of employees zipping around, running from department to department.

Once they made it down to the labs they found Drs. Sinclair and Griffin combing through the data banks and project files.

“Richards, Reyes and Edwards, I need you three to gather up everything you’ve been working on in the last month and send it through to my station, now please,” Jake said as he tapped frantically on his keyboard.

“What’s going on Dr. G?” Raven asked as they snapped into attention, attaching research notes and project reports to be transferred between terminals.

“With the Weapons Division closed until further notice, Innovation has just become the primary source for product release within S.I,” Jake explained as Harley sent through everything he had on the StarkPhone. There were still a few things he wasn’t happy with, but there was only so much he could achieve in terms of connectivity with 2008’s 3G spectrum. He hoped the streamlined design and intuitive interface would be enough to carry the project through to production.

“Thank you, Dr. Edwards. Richards and Reyes, I’m still waiting on you please, Jacapo and I are to present everything we have to Mr. Stark himself at ten and we still need to map out a timeline for what exactly it is we have in the first place.”

“Coming through now Dr. Griffin,” Peter responded. In the last two weeks, he had moved on to conducting his own experiments with the Intelli-crops. He’d also been experimenting with a new web fluid formula designed to be used by rescue and repair services in the event of a natural disaster, it was developed to be applied to unstable infrastructure damaged by severe storms or earthquakes.

“I’m sorry Dr. Griffin, did you say ten? Mr. Stark has never come into the office before noon in the last three years I’ve been here,” asked one of the lab techs that worked in communications, Dr. Green, Harley remembered.

“He’s never been here before noon in the _eleven_ _years_ I’ve been here either,” Head of Stark Medical, Dr. Abbey Griffin added as she walked into the lab, “It would appear that whatever happened in Afghanistan has given Mr. Stark a new lease on life. Here are the project files for the equipment Raven has been helping me update, Jake.”

“Just my luck,” Jake mumbled before turning towards his wife to go through files she handed him, “Thank you, honey.”

******

You could cut the tension in the cafeteria with a knife. Some people looked to be at a loss, trying to piece together what their positions in the company now meant, while others were frantic, trying to manage the changes that went into effect overnight and mitigating the damage to bring some form of order to the chaos.

Raven was living for the drama.

“All right, spill Reyes, what have you heard?” Harley pointed his fork threateningly as Raven sat down, too close to giddy for comfort.

“Who me? What makes you think I’ve heard something?” Nonchalant was not a look she pulled off well.

“Ooooh tea?! Tell meeeeee! SPILL IT SISTAR! Give it to me hunt- _OW!_ ” Peter yelped as his elbow was pinched, looking up he could see Harley glaring at him.

“Tea? This is coffee, do you want some?” Raven asked confused holding her mug out.

“Come on Reyes, tell me, pleeeeeeease?” Harley whined, “Is it about someone in the Weapons Division? Did one of them break down in the hallway again? Was it Guterman? Dear Satan, please let it have been Guterman.”

“Nope.” Raven popped the P shaking her head as Harley's went wide.

“Oh. My. God. It was Riva, wasn’t it? I hope that self-entitled mommas boy cried so hard it broke his glasses. Condescending piece of shit.” Harley smirked, reveling in the sorrow of the grade-a-assholes he envisioned. _‘Served the fuckers right for what they did to Pete in Europe,’_ he thought, _‘Along with that bastard Beck, I’ll raze them all to the ground.’_

“Jesus Christ Edwards, wipe that smile off your face, you look deranged and it’s freaking me out. Who are you planning to kill inside of that hollowed-out skull you call a brain?” Raven threw a fry at Harley, pulling him out of his murderous fantasy.

Peter snorted as Harley checked his hair to make sure there wasn’t any salt in it.

“Can’t you let a guy dream, Reyes!”

Raven rolled her eyes, “Get a grip Edwards, and fix your hair, it’s looking off.”

“How dare you!” Harley looked livid while Raven grinned.

“It wasn’t Loserman or Diva anyway, it was Stane.”

“No way,” Peter’s jaw dropped.

“Way,” Raven's eyes were sparkling.

“You saw him crying?” Harley asked, shocked.

“Better,” Raven teased.

“What’s better than that?” Peter exclaimed.

“I saw him being led out of the building,”

Harley and Peter stared at her to go on.

“Being led out of the building _by men in FBI uniforms_ ,” she continued, buttering a bread roll as the boys gawked.

“Being led out of the building, by men in FBI uniforms, _in handcuffs_.”

“WHAT?!” Harley and Peter’s minds looked to be racing a mile a minute, tossing the last brain cell they had left between them back and forth.

******

“This is not good Evan, this is very, very NOT GOOD!” Peter whispered as loudly as he could as they made their way back down to the labs, Raven had gone up to medical to finish working on the self-injecting immunizers with the female Dr. Griffin.

“I know Ry, we’ll have to roll with the punches for now and assess each deviance in the timeline as we go. Once we can map out exactly what’s changed we’ll be able to see if any of our plans need to be altered.”

“I’ll start scanning online tonight to see if there’s anything else that stands out or that shouldn’t have happened yet,” Peter added, pulling himself together.

“And I’ll check the data mines we laid, starting with the FBI and Shield, we need to gather intel on Tony’s rescue as well as Stane.” Harley took a breath, _‘First the press conference and now this?’_ he thought, they had only been back in the past for three months now and the snap wouldn’t happen for another ten years. If events were already changing and the future was already becoming unpredictable then it could spell disaster for them.

Peter was right, this was _not good_ , this was very not good.

**Boston 2025**   
**Harley's Apartment**

“IT’S UNETHICAL!”

“Peter, we are _literally_ going back in time to change the events of pre-established history, in o u r f a v o r. I’m pretty sure that’s about as unethical as anyone could get.”

“Ugh,” Peter sighed as Harley carried on.

“Besides... _ethics?_ Highly subjective and completely overrated.” Harley winked with a self-satisfied smirk.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Harley teased.

“No, I don’t,” Peter agreed before a smile crept onto his face, “but yer pushin’ me over the fooken’ line.” He exclaimed in a Scottish accent as Harley rolled his eyes.

“All right meme boy, come on, we’ve got work to do, and _I swear to god_ if you start singing that Firebird song I will throw you out the window.” Harley sassed as Peter pouted.

The boys spent hours working through everything that happened from 2008 onwards, along with the assistance of Karen and Friday, planning out what they needed to change.

After they managed to integrate themselves as assistants to Tony and Pepper, Harley was going to sound the alarm on what he could dig up on Stane’s misdealings within S.I., hopefully, they could deal with him before S.H.I.E.L.D had to step in.

Romanoff would still be sent in to profile Tony, and the boys were planning to let her be at first. Once she laid the bugs they would use them as a backdoor to access Shield to ‘uncover’ information on her, the organization as a whole, and everything and anything they could find on Hydra. Harley was going to plant as many data mines as he could get away with inside Shield’s servers the moment they set up in ’08, it would be a lot easier to find the information they needed through Nat’s bugs if they knew exactly where to look because as great as the data mines were, they couldn’t get caught using them, or with intel that couldn’t be traced back to a source they had plausible access to. As soon as he had everything they needed, he’d get Tony and Pepper to come down on Shieldra. _Hard._

It was going to be Peter’s job to get close to ‘Mr. Stark’ to make sure he was doing okay and support him any way he could in an attempt to get Tony to open up about the fact that he was dying of palladium poisoning.

 _‘And people say I have a Martyr complex’_ Peter thought.

From there he would only have to suggest that “maybe _there is_ an element to power the arc reactor that doesn’t damage organic material, we just haven’t discovered it yet?” and comment, “Hey Mr. Stark, does this model of the Stark Expo kinda look like an atom to you? Neat!”

By the early hours of the morning, everything they mapped out was starting to come together. If they stuck to their plan they actually stood a solid chance of saving Mr. Stark and stopping the snap.

It was too bad really, that everything they planned would go to shit before they could put it into action.

**LA 2008**   
**Stark Industries Headquarters**   
**Monday Morning**

Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts was a strong, incredibly competent, and at times ruthless woman, but even she had her limits. Her boss being kidnapped in Afghanistan for two months, presumed dead, only to return to hold a press conference in which he announced the closure of Stark Industries' primary revenue source was dangerously close to reaching said limits.

She cut an impressive figure in her cream skirt suit, making her way through the mezzanine only to freeze in her tracks as she saw Obadiah being led out by Federal Agents.

“Oh my god, Obadiah, are you okay?” Pepper called out as she made her way over.

“Pepper! You have to help me, someone is trying to frame me!” Stane asking for help had slowed the officers down, only to be pulled and pushed along as Pepper tried to get their attention.

“Excuse me, what exactly is going on here?” She asked harshly, noticing that Stane was handcuffed.

One of the agents stopped to turn to Pepper as the others continued, “Warrant for the arrest of one Obadiah Stane on grounds of International Terrorism, Treason, and Tax Evasion,” He answered shortly handing her a copy of the warrant. “Have a nice day ma’am.”

Pepper stood in shock, mouth open and eyes wide before pulling out her phone to call Tony.

“You’ve reached the voicemail of- you know who I am.”

 _‘Typical,’_ Pepper thought, hanging up the phone as she made her way to the executive levels.

******

“Good morning Ms. Potts.”  
“Hello, Ms. Potts,” Sinclair and Griffin greeted Pepper as she passed them in the hallway.

“Good morning.” She smiled as she continued on her way, _‘Odd,’_ she thought, _‘I wonder what they were doing up here so early.’_ It was especially odd as she knew for a fact that Obadiah wasn’t in his office.

As she turned inside the CEO suite Pepper could hardly believe what she was seeing.  
  
“Tony! What _on earth_ are you doing here?” she exclaimed, shocked.  
  
“Uh, I work here, my names on the front of the building, remember? Tony Stark getting some work done, stranger things have been known to happen, surely,” Tony sassed as he minimized the files on Reilly Richards and Evan Edwards he had open on his display.  
  
“Tony it’s barely eleven, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you in this building before three in the afternoon and none of them were before midday. Tony, something serious has happened with Obadiah. I tried calling you but your phone was off.” Pepper put the arrest warrant down on the desk next to him.  
  
“Sorry Miss Potts, I had a very important meeting with some of the R&D heads to run through a production schedule to keep the company we all love and adore working at so much, alive.” Tony teased as Pepper’s eye twitched.  
  
“Tony, Obadiah was arrested this morning and taken into custody by the FBI.” _‘Best to rip the band-aid off,’_ Pepper thought, she was not expecting the grin that crept onto Tony’s face.  
  
“And who do you think was the person that told them about dear Obie’s transgressions?” Tonk asked as Pepper's face went blank.  
  
“It was you? What? _Why?_ Obadiah is like family to you.” Pepper asked confused.  
  
“No Pep, he isn’t. Obie organized the terrorist attack on the convoy in Odessa, he was counting on them to take me out so he could have the company for himself.”  
  
Pepper covered her mouth in shock as she sat down on one of the lounges. “How could he do such a thing?”  
  
“He wasn’t the man we thought he was,” Tony explained looking over the warrant. “Treason, Terrorism and Tax Evasion?” He whistled, “Obie was dealing defective arms to the other side under the table, I saw it with my own eyes over there Pepper, a few of the men holding me prisoner confirmed it. They thought they were clever not to speak in English around me but they forgot about the other prisoner that understood them. I told Rhodey during my extraction back to the States, it took a day to dig up all the evidence we needed to throw the book at him but it should be enough to see him locked up for life.”  
  
“I’m so sorry Tony, it’s unbelievable, I can't exactly wrap my head around it.” The whole thing left Pepper with an uncomfortable feeling crawling under her skin. “He had to have accomplices within the company, he couldn't have been working alone.”  
  
“Already on it. _Well,_ Jarvis is at least, aren’t you Jay?”  
  
“Ferreting them out as we speak sir,” Jarvis answered.  
  
“Now Miss Potts, seeing as my business partner and 2IC is currently facing life imprisonment with no chance of parole, _I hope,_ it seems we have a gap to fill within S.I.”  
  
Pepper didn’t think she could be any more shocked, Tony was actually thinking about the company, thinking of its management and longevity. If she was being honest to herself, a part of her was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “I’ll talk to HR and Talent Acquisition to put some feelers out and send through dossiers on suitable candidates.”  
  
“Actually, that won’t be necessary. I’ve got the perfect replacement in mind,” Tony started as Pepper’s eyebrow rose.  
  
“Oh thank god, for a moment there I was worried you were being too reasonable. All right, lay it on me, who have you impulsively decided is the right choice to help you run the company?” Pepper was bracing herself for the worst.  
  
_“You, of course,”_ Tony smirked, it looked like Pepper could in fact, be more shocked.  
  
“What?!” She blinked. If there was ever a perfect what the fuck look, it was currently displayed across her face. “Have you been drinking?”  
  
“Wow, hit me where it hurts why don’t you? No, for your information, I’ve been sober for the last two months thank you very much. Not that it was my choice at first, but being in captivity made it hard.” Tony carried on as Pepper sat in disbelief.  
  
“I don’t understand.”  
  
“Well, the terrorists weren’t very hospitable in terms of offering a cocktail package. Or a day spa for that matter, I really should leave them a scathing Yelp review.” Tony deflected.  
  
“Tony!” Pepper raised her voice, half a second away from losing her shit altogether.  
  
“What? I mean it’s not like you wouldn’t know how to do it? Run the company I mean, you practically already do my half of it anyway. If anything this would be _me stepping up,_ doing my half, putting more effort in. You wouldn’t really be doing anything different, just a new title, and boatloads more money.”  
  
Tony moved to sit next to Pepper, pulling out a bottle of champagne with two glasses along with the papers he had legal draw up that were approved by the board after his press conference yesterday. It’s not like they had a choice to say no after he hammered them with the evidence he had against Stane and threatened to walk out if they didn’t start bending to his new vision for the company. S.I would’ve made it through the loss of one of them eventually but without both Tony and Stane, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.  
  
“I-I don’t know what to say.” A smile slowly started to spread across Pepper's face.  
  
“Say yes?” Tony teased.  
  
Pepper shook her head, coming to terms with everything, smile getting bigger. “Yes, thank you, Tony, I mean it, I just- thank you.”  
  
“You deserve it Pep, there is one condition though, tiny really, more of a request, _a suggestion even_.”  
  
“Here we go,” Pepper laughed.  
  
“Your assistant, there’s someone up and coming in the company that I want you to take under your wing,” Tony explained pulling up Dr. Edward's file.  
  
“Someone from the Innovation Department? I didn’t know that you were close with anyone down there, he does seem like a brilliant young mind but are you sure that it’s even something he’s interested in Tony?” Pepper questioned.  
  
“He’s made some requests around the company to apply for administrative and managerial experience and from what I can see, he’ll be great, trust me.” Tony pointed out, going through performance reviews and employee requests.  
  
_“We’re connected.”_

******

“Ah, Edwards and Richards, I’ve been looking for you all morning,” Jake said as the boys entered the lab, back from lunch.

“Sorry Dr. Griffin, Raven and the other Dr. Griffin needed help in Medical with the self-immunizers and since we weren’t sure which projects to work on and which ones were getting scrapped we went up there and then grabbed lunch on the way back down…” Peter explained, trailing off.

“It’s all right, Reilly, if it was urgent I would’ve called. Now, the meeting this morning with Mr. Stark went better than Sinclair or I were hoping for. It looks like there’s a big shift in focus towards Innovations and Medical so we’re all going to be pretty busy for the remaining quarter but, Mr. Stark was especially impressed with the projects you two have been working on in particular.”

“Oh what? Really?” Peter asked, his voice going high as he fidgeted with some papers on the bench while Harley tried not to roll his eyes.

 _‘Be any more obvious, I dare you.’_ Harley thought, exuding aloofness.

“Yes, he’s requested a meeting with you both to go over the designs for the adhesive and phone in more detail,” Jake answered.

“A meeting?” Peter squeaked, “With us?”

“Yes Dr. Richards,” Jake chuckled, “As you transferred here from New York while he was missing, your names weren’t familiar to him so he pulled up your employee files. I think he was a bit shocked when he saw your ID Photos to be honest, but I’m not surprised. You two are some of the brightest I’ve worked with and your age can be off-putting to lesser men, I don’t think that’s what Mr. Stark thought though, you probably remind him of himself at your age.”

“When is the meeting scheduled for Dr. Griffin?” Harley spoke up interested, _‘FINALLY, something is going to plan.’_ He thought.

“This afternoon at two, so you still have some time to review everything on the projects before you go, good luck boys, not that you need it.” Jake smiled.

******

“Breathe Richards, if you pass out I’m going to the meeting without you.” Harley nudged Peter as they rode the elevator up.

“I can’t help it!” Peter exclaimed, “It’s been nearly four years since I’ve seen him Ev, and even then it was only for a second during the Battle of Upstate New York and before that, it was when I _turned to dust in his arms._ I just- I, it’s a lot, knowing that we’re going to see him again.”

“I know Ry,” Harley said softly, “It’s a lot for me too, but you have to remember that’s not our Tony, not yet at least, and it would be unfair to project our feelings onto him or expect him to be someone he's not, yeah?”

“Yeah Ev, I know.” Peter sighed as the elevator stopped and they made their way out onto the executive level.

“Hello, you must Doctor Richards and Doctor Edwards. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Vir-”

“Pepper! It’s so good to see you!” Peter reached out to hug Pepper as Harley’s eyes went wide before he pulled Peter back by grabbing onto his shirt.

“I’m sorry, have we met before?” Pepper asked, brow in a line as she tried to recall ever meeting a Dr. Richards.

“No! Sorry! It’s just such so nice to see you.” Peter flushed turning towards Harley for help.

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Pott’s, please excuse Dr. Richards, he’s easily excited.” Harley charmed.

“Oh, it’s not a problem at all, now, why don’t you follow me and we can try to find where Mr. Stark is hiding?” Pepper responded gracefully with a smile as she walked through two open double doors. “Tony, are you in here?”

There stood Anthony Edward Stark, The Merchant of Death, the playboy who would become _Iron Man,_ an Avenger, one of Earth Mightiest Heroes, Victor of the Battle of Upstate New York, the man who defeated the Mad Titan and brought half of the universe back from dust and ash, _Tony Stark,_ a living legend in every sense of the word, but also a loving husband, and dearly missed father. It was almost too much for the boys to handle.

“Hi Pep, I thought I told you to take the rest of the day off? Worrying about me for the last two months, you deserve a break.” Tony grinned from behind the standing display he was working on.

“You know I was only worried about finding a new job, you're also not my boss anymore,” Pepper smiled happily, “Dr. Richards and Dr. Edwards are here for your two o’clock.”

“Ah yes, please take a seat,” Tony gestured towards a seating area, “Thanks Pep, now why don’t you make some dinner reservations for us this weekend at that place you like? The expensive one, my treat.”

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” Pepper asked, eyes bright.

“That will be all, Miss Potts.” Tony smiled as she left, closing the doors behind her. Turning towards the boys and the open project files on the coffee table in front of them, he spoke.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Potato-Gun-Son and the Spider-Baby. Trying to steal the designs for my phone and palm it off as your own? I’m hurt Keener, _truly_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter out:
> 
> Thursday Australian time  
> Wednesday every where else.


	8. And Holy Shit They Aren’t The Only Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter:  
> Harley:  
> Hermione:  
> Harry:  
> Ron:  
> No one:  
> Absolutely Nobody:  
> Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge: HE’S BACK!

**Upstate New York 2023**  
 **Avengers Facility Ruins**  
  
“I am inevitable.”  
  
“And I, am…”  
  
“Iron Man.”  
  
Peter could hear the snap from across the battlefield, his stomach filling with dread. Spider senses kicking into action, he cut through the charred ground as his head started to spin. He barely registered the alien army around him turning to dust, focused solely on the man who meant so much to him.  
  
“Mr. Stark?” _‘He’s okay, he’s just in shock.’_  
“Hey...”  
“Mr. Stark? Can you hear me?” _‘No.’_  
“It's Peter,”  
“We won,” _‘Please Mr. Stark, please.’_  
“Mr. Stark....”  
“We won, Mr. Stark,” _‘I need you, please, I need you.’_  
“We won and you did it, sir.”  
“You did it,” _‘No, no no no no.’_  
  
Peter could feel a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. His face was wet and his chest felt like it was being crushed. _‘Not him, please god not him. I can’t lose another one, please.’_  
  
“Hey,” Pepper said as she bent down.  
  
“Hey, Pep.” Peter could see Mr. Stark's eyes start to go blank.  
  
“Friday?” Pepper asked, slipping her hand behind Tony’s neck.  
  
“Life functions critical,” Friday answered as Peter could feel his insides being ripped apart.  
  
Tony could feel himself start to lose grip on the world around him, the other Avengers fading off in the background. He was scared. Not scared of dying, but scared of who would protect his wife, his daughter, _his sons._  
  
“Tony, look at me. We’re going to be okay, you can rest now.”  
  
Looking into the loving eyes of his beautiful wife, Tony thought there were worst ways to go.  
  
Rest… for the first time in his life, he decided not to fight it. _‘Rest would be okay.’_  
  
Tony should’ve known it would never be that easy.

  
 **LA 2008**  
 **Stark Industries Headquarters**  
 **Executive Suite**  
  
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Potato-Gun-Son and the Spider-Baby. Trying to steal the designs for my phone and palm it off as your own? I’m hurt Keener, _truly._ ”  
  
Peter and Harley looked like their eyes were about to fall out of their heads.  
  
“At least Pete was somewhat original, used his own web formula instead of coming for his old man,” Tony carried on, flicking through the project files as the boys managed to work through their initial shock.  
  
“Tony?” Harley whispered standing up, almost afraid of the answer, “Is it really you?”  
  
Peter stook up next to him, tears starting to spring, “Mr. Stark?”  
  
“You’ve both grown up so much without me.” The mirth disappeared from Tony’s face as his rambling came to an end, replaced with a look of sadness for the years he missed, and a smile of hope.  
  
The next thing Tony knew there were two bodies slammed against his sides, arms wrapped around him. He could feel Peter’s tears soaking through his shirt as he mumbled but it was Harley who shocked him the most, his face looked crushed and his eyes were haunted.  
  
“What are YOU doing here!?” Harley accused, tense.  
  
“What am I doing here? What are you two doing here?!” Tony’s voice rose in confusion.  
  
“You can’t be here, _it won’t work if you’re here,_ ” Harley whispered in terror.  
  
“What won’t work? What’s going on Harl, why did you and Peter come back and how did you get here?”  
  
“We came back to stop the snap from happening.” Harley snipped.  
  
“And to save you.” Peter finished, sniffling.  
  
“It’s not going to work now.” Harley sounded like he was falling apart.  
  
“All right, I’m no genius, well _actually I am_ , but won’t my being here help? No offense, but there’s a lot more I could do to change the timeline alone than you two could together. Were you not going to tell me you were from the future eventually? The other me I mean.” Tony could feel the boys go rigid.  
  
“No, we weren’t.” Harley exhaled, his answer surprising Tony.  
  
“What? Why not?”  
  
“Because I watched you die Mr. Stark.” The look Peter gave him nearly broke Tony’s heart.  
  
“I’m sorry Underoos,” Tony could feel his eyes water.  
  
“And I’d sooner rather kill myself than watch it happen again.” Determination settled across Peter’s face.  
  
“WHAT?! What are you talking about?” Tony exclaimed as Peter looked to Harley.  
  
“We’ve run the calculations hundreds of times, with Friday and Karen too, someone has to use the stones when Thanos arrives in 2018 to dust his army, it’s our strongest chance of saving everyone,” Harley explained, suddenly exhausted.  
  
“And you weren’t going to tell the other me this why?” Exasperation lined Tony’s voice.  
  
“Because if you knew someone had to die,” Harley trailed off as Peter spoke up.  
  
“You would’ve made sure it was you.” Peter’s face had an empty look while Harley appeared hollowed out.  
  
Tony felt disgusted at himself for being the cause of it.

He pulled the boys down to one of the couches, feeling beaten to the core. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, they should all be celebrating, happy that they have another chance to get things right. It felt like they were giving up before they even got a chance to fight.  
  
“Loss and hurt are parts of life boys, _some of the shittiest parts_ , but we don’t get to pick and choose what life throws at us, we choose how we let it affect us. I’m sorry that you both lost me, but for five horrific years, I lost you too. I felt you blow away in my arms Pete, and you can bet your ass I searched every corner of Tennessee looking for you Keener.” Tony paused, bracing himself to deliver some hard truths, “But it’s the duty of sons to bury their fathers, not the other way around, and that’s something you’re going to have to come to terms with. Because if I have to lose you all over again, I don’t think I’d be able to go on living, _not in this life at least._ ” He let the seriousness of his words sink in.  
  
“We can’t lose you again, Mechanic, you’re all we have left.” Harley choked out, trying to keep it together.  
  
“Oh I have no plans of dying until the ripe old age of at least a hundred and five this time 'round, you’ll be begging for me to be going by then, trust me.” Tony joked as Peter and Harley looked at him baffled.  
  
“What? You didn’t think your old man has a plan of his own? A better plan might I add, in which _no one_ dies?” Tony grinned as he could see the color return to the boy's faces.  
  
“I’ll even tell you about it if you’re lucky, but first I want information from the both of you and if you so much as think of lying I’ll have you grounded for a month, grown men or not.”  
  
Harley snorted while Peter’s brain was racing a mile a minute, there were so many things that Tony could ask them about.  
  
Tony leveled the boys with a serious stare.  
  
“Now, who came to my funeral and who cried? I want the names of all the fake SOBs that attended and what you said to them.”  
  
Harley was laughing so hard he started to cough while Peter went bright red, remembering his outburst over Captain America.  
  
******  
  
The next hour was an overwhelming experience for Tony, to say the least. That Steve chose to remain in the past was not surprising in the slightest, that his makeshift eldest son had chosen to _betray_ _him_ and the world of science, however, was enough to put him into an early grave.  
  
“How could you hurt me like this Keener? I thought the stolen phone designs were bad but this, this is a knife to the back.” Tony sighed, eyes sad, “You’ll never betray me for magic will you Pete? You’re still a good boy right?”  
  
“Of-of course Mr. Stark, I mean, no I won’t betray you like Evan.” Peter smiled, relishing the attention.  
  
“Get a grip drama queen,” Harley rolled his eyes as he continued to levitate the couch they were sitting on before drifting it back down to the ground. “I’m still a man of science through and through. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” He grinned before winking obnoxiously.  
  
“Jesus Christ you give me the creeps kid, sometimes it’s like looking back at a teenage version of myself when it comes to you,” Tony rattled off.  
  
“Trust me when I say I know the feeling,” Harley replied, his thoughts drifting back to Tennessee before telling Tony about his experience with the younger Harley Keener.

"Kid," Tony sighed softly when Harley told him about his plan to save himself and be there for his younger version. Tony's eyes took on a sad glint but his face was full of pride.  
  
Things took a turn when Tony started to press for answers about the future, what happened to Pepper and Morgan, learning that Helen, Hannah, and May had died as well. It made his blood run cold to learn that the boys had lost so much where they came from. He decided to focus on the mechanics of it all for the moment, the method they used to jump back, Harley's theories on time travel and the multiverse, the mathematical patterns Peter referred to as ‘fate’ as well as everything they’ve been doing since they arrived in 08.  
  
“Insider trading? Climbing up the corporate ladder? Data mines in the FBI, Shield, AND Hydra? My, my, haven’t you boys been busy racking up criminal offenses?” Tony tsked as Peter and Harley avoided eye contact.  
  
“Technically Shield and Hydra are the same so it doesn’t really count as two different crimes,” Peter tried while Tony rolled his eyes.  
  
“Well as lovely as this is, you’re holding out on us old man. What are YOU doing here and how did you even jump back in the first place? Not to be macabre but your death was witnessed by literally hundreds at the Battle of Upstate New York, not to mention Rielly himself.” Harley countered, itching for answers.  
  
“Why do you two do that?” Tony deflected.  
  
_“Do what?”_ Harley asked, eyes narrowed.  
  
“Refer to each other as Reilly and Evan, even though we’re alone?”  
  
“It’s a habit we’ve forced ourselves into, one slip up could cause someone to become suspicious, Ry’s bad enough with his... what’s the word for out-dated but the other way around? Pre-dated? Blah. He’s bad enough with his references to pop culture from the future. It’s easier this way.” Harley explained as Peter tried not to look offended, it was true after all.  
  
“It-it’s just hard for me to think of you as anything other than Harley and Peter,” Tony trailed off, looking at their faces. _“I’ve already missed so much.”_  
  
“Tony, stop deflecting and tell us what happened. We opened up to you and now it’s your turn, so spill.”  
  
“Ugh, fine! God, you’re both such terribly behaved sons,” Tony smiled, “Full disclosure, I’m not entirely sure what happened exactly, but I didn’t jump back here on purpose like you, I’m not that reckless.” He scoffed before clearing his throat.  
  
“It’s almost like a dream now, after the snap I remember Peter-I mean Rielly, coming over to me, and then Pepper but, _it’s the craziest thing_. I knew I was dying but I didn’t feel any pain, I thought my nerves must’ve been severed, but then I started to feel warm, and... safe?” Tony asked himself as he stared off into the distance.  
  
“I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them... Well, that's when I got the shock of my life, or maybe afterlife. Semantics. I was laying in warm water, a shallow pond I guess, or it could’ve been a deep puddle. Just as I was thinking about how gross it was and hoping that I wasn’t laying in pee, who should appear but none other than Steven Grant Rogers. For a second I was actually confused whether him being there meant I was in heaven or hell. But it wasn’t Steve, not really. His eyes were green.”  
  
********  
  
“Steve?” Tony asked confused, reaching out for his hand.  
  
“No Tony Stark, but I am a friend,” he responded lifting Tony to his feet.  
  
“Who are you?” Tony asked, besides the eyes, he was a dead ringer for Steve, voice and all.  
  
“Your people once called me Tempus, though they now call me by another name.” Not-Steve smiled.  
  
“Where am I?” Tony looked around, noticing four others, “Nat?” he whispered, he knew she was dead so maybe this really was the afterlife.  
  
“No Tony Stark, in your world, I am known as Anima.” Not-Nat wore a warm smile, it looked weirder than her orange eyes.  
  
“All right then, and who are you lot supposed to be? Roman Gods?” Tony asked spinning around, coming face to face with Clint, Thor, and Bruce. Though he bet if he asked if it was really them, he would get the same ‘No Tony Stark’ response.  
  
“Clever mind indeed.” Not-Clint smirked, yellow eyes crinkling at the edges.  
  
“Ooooookay, look as interesting as this is, I’m pretty sure _I just died_ so if you could take me to either the pearly or fiery gates, I’d be much obliged.” Tony sassed, public persona sliding firmly into place.  
  
“No Tony Stark, your time is not yet over on Earth.” Not-Nat answered, “We need you to return, to set the balance of the cosmos in order.”  
  
“Uh, excuse me for pointing out the obvious but, I kinda already did that. Not sure if you noticed but Thanos was destroyed, along with his merry band of followers, and the other half of the universe was returned. Seems pretty balanced again to me.” Tony recounted in a blasè tone.  
  
“No Tony Stark, there is still much more you must do,” Not-Bruce spoke solemnly as his eyes flashed purple.  
  
********  
  
Peter: “What?”  
Harley: “What?”  
  
“What?” Tony responded, the boys hanging onto his every word.  
  
“What happened next?” Harley exclaimed at the edge of his seat.  
  
“I’m- I’m not sure, it’s all kind of blurry after that. I think someone else was there too? Only not... different but, the same? Or maybe two others? It’s like a blue fog, a haze across my memory.” Tony answered, face puzzled.  
  
“The next thing I remember is coming to in Afghanistan, Arc Reactor in my chest.”  
  
“I can’t believe it. Who do you think they were? And why do you think they appeared to you as the Avengers?” Peter asked, intrigued beyond belief.  
  
“I’m not sure Pete-sorry, Ry, but I know I’m here to help change things, _for the better_.” Tony trailed off, running his hands through the boy's hair.  
  
“So what happens now?” Harley asked.  
  
“Eventually? We’ll get the team together, the earlier the better, and I’ve got some ideas to push the earth's defenses along to a level where we’ll stand a good chance,” Tony answered, “but immediately? I know you two are practically adults, Evan, you’re already twenty-one and you will be too next year Rielly but- I’d like to legally adopt you both if that’s all right? It would go a long way in terms of protection under the Stark name and would make it easier for me to leave the company to you as heirs.”  
  
_“Heirs?”_ Peter’s voice rose an octave, eyes wide.  
  
“The heirs to Stark Industries?” Tony answered, “Wasn’t the company left to you in the future?”  
  
“Yes but well, we just assumed that was because Pepper and Morgan had died,” Harley didn’t understand. “What happens when Morgan’s born? In this timeline I mean.”  
  
“I’m not really sure if she will be kid, regardless you and Peter were listed in my will BEFORE Maguna was born, so if she does end up existing here, you three will just have to learn to share the company.” Tony got a wistful look in his eyes.  
  
“Oh,” Harley answered, shook.  
  
**Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB)**  
 **El Segundo, California**  
  
“Excuse me, sir, I need to take this, it’s could be an emergency.”  
  
“Let’s take ten gentlemen.” The commander dismissed as Colonel Rhodes answered his phone, making his way out to the hallway.  
  
“Pepper are you okay? Did Tony have trouble with Stane?” Rhodey asked, concerned.  
  
“Hi James, no, he was taken by the FBI this morning but, something else has happened. I think there could be something wrong with Tony.” Rhodey could hear the worry in Pepper’s voice.  
  
“To be fair, when isn't something wrong with him?” the Colonel joked, “Is this about your promotion? He ran it past me already and I think it’s a good idea Pepper.”  
  
“Oh, he ran it past you did he?” Pepper's voice went high, “Did he _also_ run it past you that he apparently has two sons that are in their early twenties?”  
  
“WHAT?!” Rhodey exclaimed into his phone, “What are you talking about Pepper, Tones doesn’t have any kids.”  
  
“Well that’s where you’re wrong James, and he’s asked legal for the paperwork to name them the heirs of Stark Industries.”  
  
“What the fuck is going on? _Who are they?_ Where have they been the last twenty years? Why would Tony name them heirs already? Pepper, what's going on?” Rhodey could feel his stomach knot, none of this made sense.  
  
“They’re two doctors from the Innovation Division here, graduated from MIT at nineteen, or so it would seem,” Pepper explained, voice going hard.  
  
_“So it would seem?”_ Rhodey asked.  
  
“All of their documentation is on file but I called the college, none of the professors had any idea who they were, even the ones that wrote their letters of recommendation. It doesn’t just stop there, there’s more, or less I guess. They have social security numbers, bank accounts and birth certificates in their files but I can’t find out anything about them from before four months ago, and the people listed on their birth certificates don’t exist.” Pepper was talking in hushed tones now, “James, what if they’re imposters, what if something happened to Tony in Afghanistan, what if they did something to his mind?”  
  
“ _You think he’s been conditioned?_ That they’re handlers he was brainwashed to form a relationship with?” Rhodey whispered, shocked.  
  
“It’s the only thing that’s making sense right now, please, do you think you could come and check on him? We only just got him back, I can’t lose him again.” Pepper sniffed.  
  
“Of course, I’ll come around to the beach house tonight Pepper.”  
  
******  
  
It was pushing five by the time the boys were getting ready to leave Tony’s office as they heard a knock at the door. Peter jumped up to see who it was, finding Phil Coulson and Nat as an idea slipped into his head.  
  
“Daaaaaaaaad,” Peter called out, half turning back towards Tony much to the surprise of the agents standing in the doorway, “Phil Coulson is here, and he brought Agent Romanoff with him, not sure why her eye's twitching though, are you sure she's from the Red Room?” Yes, he was being petty. No, he didn't care.  
  
“Tony Stark doesn’t have any children, and my eye's not twitching,” Nat replied, face blank before snapping towards Harley as he snorted.  
  
“You may find it hard to believe, but there are things that even Shield and Nick Fury don’t know.” Harley sassed, eyes-rolling.  
  
“Agent Number Two, Black Window, what a lovely surprise!” Tony greeted as Phil and Nat’s eyes went wide, “Please come in,” he gestured.  
  
“All right now, _shoo boys,_ go drop your friend home and I’ll see you back at the beach house. Don’t forget dinners at eight and I’ll be sad if you’re late.” Tony said pushing the boys out.  
  
“Bye _Dad_.”  
“See you later _Dad,_ ” Peter smirked as he saw the shock on the agent's faces.

Peter: 1  
Rouge Avengers: 0   
  
_**Flash-forward 10 Years**_  
 _ **Wakanda 2018**_  
  
Shuri’s eyes went wide as her display flashed. “Dr. Richards? You need to see this, now!”  
  
Peter rushed across the command deck for S.A.F.E. (Strategic Action For Emergencies), a joint venture between Wakanda, SHIELD, SWORD, SI and headed by the UN, as soon as his eyes landed on Shuiri’s terminal his face paled.  
  
“Dad!” Peter yelled as all heads turned in his direction.  
  
“What is it Ry? Report.” Tony instructed from the center of the deck, surrounded by holo displays. Thanos’s army was coming hard and fast, he wasn’t sure how much longer the Earth’s Off World Defence System would last, it was looking more and more like the final stand would take place on Earth. _Again._  
  
“de Luna Base is under attack, their defense system has been taken out, causality reports are flowing in...” Peter replied. You could hear a pin drop across the deck.   
  
“Your brother and uncle Rhodey are stationed on de Luna,” Tony’s face looked like a sheet, “Order an immediate evac of all personal and put the base into lockdown.”  
  
“SAFE to de Luna Base, evacuate all personal immediately, repeat evacuate all personal immediately,” Peter ordered into his comms as he lowered the base underground remotely.  
  
“Tony, SWORD fighter jets are falling back, they’re no match for the Chitahuri ships.” Agent 13 relayed from her station.  
  
“Thanks, Sharon. Nat? Do you have any good news for me?” Tony asked, fear settling in.  
  
“SHIELD’s carries have detected alien ships entering the atmosphere, trajectory course is… here.” Nat answered, looking up.  
  
“DAD!” Harley called out as he stepped onto the deck through a gold-rimmed portal.  
  
_‘Thank god,’_ Tony thought as he rushed over, questions on the tip of his tongue.  
  
“It’s wasn’t good up there Dad, I’m not sure if we’re going to make it,” Harley whispered in terror.  
  
Ten years' worth of changes, and it was all turning back to shit in a day.

Ten years of planning and replanning, organizing, training, recruiting, building defense systems across the globe and into space but now, when push came to shove, Tony wasn’t sure if it was going to cut it, if their preparation would be enough to defeat Thanos any differently than the first time.  
  
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter out:
> 
> Monday Australian  
> Sunday everywhere else 
> 
> <3


	9. And Tony Did Not Come Here To Fuck Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shield has entered the group chat and Tony is not having a bar of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> U2 is a vibe
> 
> <3

**LA 2008  
** **Stark Industries Headquarters  
** **Executive Suite**

“Can I get you a drink, Romanoff? Or is it Rushman right now?” Tony was met with a blank stare as Nat assessed the situation. “Well, all righty then. How about you Coulson _No?_ Excellent, let’s get straight down to business shall we?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, I didn’t realize you were expecting us.” Phil fished for information as they sat down.

“Shield poking their noses into other people’s business? Seems about right to me.” Tony said flippantly. He did wonder why Natasha was here though, _that was different._

“It would appear that we aren’t the only ones,” Nat remarked as she placed a file down on the table, Tony frowned as he opened it to see evidence of unauthorized code clusters in Shields database, “There are only two men smart enough to have done this and Justin Hammer claims it wasn’t him.”

“You asked Hammer first? Wow, I’m insulted. Hammer couldn’t code his way out of Pac Man maze.” Tony sassed.

“Don’t bruise your ego on our count Stark,” Natasha tried, goading him for information, “You would’ve been first on our list if it wasn’t for the fact that you were reported in captivity when some of these were placed. How did you manage to pull that off? Your artificial intelligence maybe? _Impressive_.”

Tony could see right through her, but he was feeling generous, “Well, for your information it wasn’t me OR Jarvis.”

“But you DO know who it was, don’t you? I’m not a coding expert by any means, but I do like to dabble, and these? Call me crazy but they have a distinct ‘Stark Flare’ to them.” Natasha was good, Tony would give her that.

“Are you going to jump in at any time Coulson? Or are you going to make Romanova do all the work in this interrogation?” Tony asked Phil who remained silent.

“Trust me when I say that no one makes me do something I don’t want to Mr. Stark.” Nat replied sweetly as Tony rolled his eyes, _‘Ain’t that the truth’_ he thought.

“Fine, you got me,” Tony sighed holding his hands up in surrender, “It was someone in SI, but seeing as the funding we provide accounts for more than half of Shields income, I think we can let it slide, don’t you?” He grinned as Phil finally spoke up.

“How do you know about that Mr. Stark? Your father was very insistent that you never learned of his involvement with Shield and went to great lengths to ensure that that funding couldn’t be traced.”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you Agent, but Howards been dead for nearly seventeen years now God rest his soul,” Tony started as he walked over to his desk to grab a pile of files that Harley had printed off before he left, “and with Obie in custody, I’m the captain now, you’ve actually saved me a trip to DC so thanks.”

“Color me curious, what would we have owed the visit to?” Phil questioned.

“Stark Industries will be pulling all funding from Shield in six months' time, to the date, if my demands are not met,” Tony answered as he placed the files in front of Phil, it might not have been his choice to come back to the past, but he wasn’t going to fuck around now that he was here.

“Shield does a lot of important work around the world, _good work_ Mr. Stark, do you really expect us to answer to the whims of an alcoholic playboy?” Nat asked as Phil flicked through the files, silent.

“Oh does it now?” Tony said, dripping with sarcasm, “The way I see it, everyone in your organization is either assisting a paramilitary cult bent on world domination, or incompetent enough not to realize what’s going on right under their noses and I’m not going to let it continue on my company’s dime.” That was enough to put a stop to Nat’s line of questioning as she picked up one of the files, the blood leaving her face as she scanned the pages.

“I’ll be doing another sweep of your servers in three months to check in on how you’re doing, if after the six-month mark there are still signs that Shield is harboring and abetting terrorists, unknowingly or not, you’re on your own,” Tony added.

“If what you’re saying is true, we could really use your assistance with this Mr. Stark.” Phil couldn’t believe what he was reading, clear cut evidence that Hydra had not been defeated during the events of World War Two but that they were, in fact, thriving deep underground within Shield itself. Falsified mission reports, discrepancies in budget allocation, lab results for unethical testing on live human subjects, evidence of torture and assassination on civilian targets, the list went on.

“I already fund over half of your organization and now you want me to help you fix it? When three months ago you couldn’t have cared less about the fact that you were using my money to wreak havoc on the world? Sorry, that’s a hard pass from me. The only reason I’m even giving you a chance to sort your shit out is because if I pull funding now, then anyone working for Hydra will be lost in the wind. Either do your actual job and bring them all in yourself or find a new sugar daddy,” Tony fired at the two agents. “I’ve got a lot going on at the moment, restructuring my company, two months’ worth of work to catch up on, and as I mentioned earlier my 2IC was arrested for treason. I’ve got my own shit to deal with but I can relate to your situation. I’ve also got dinner plans so if you leave right now without interrogating me anymore I promise I’ll send over the results of the three-month server sweep to help you narrow down anyone you’ve missed. _Deal?_ ”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.” Phil stood up to leave as Nat frowned, unsettled. It wasn’t until they were on their way back to DC that she realized none of their questions had been answered.

How did Tony Stark escape in Afghanistan?  
How did the information on Obadiah Stane reach the FBI?  
Who from SI planted the bugs in Shield?  
How did Stark find out about Shield in the first place?

And now most importantly, who were the two boys that knew so much and called Stark dad?

******

The boys were buzzing with energy as they entered the Innovation Lab, returning from Tony’s office. The only people left seemed to be fraying at the edges, rushing from station to station and running on fumes. Jake and Jacapo had already left for the day seeing as they had been at it since six in the morning.

“Yo Reyes!” Harley called out, “Time to jet.

“Thank the fucking lord, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Raven replied, welding torch in hand, lifting up her goggles, “If I have to spend another minute working I think I’m going to-.”

“Throw yourself off of something? Yes, Raven, we know.” Harley patronized, smirking.

“Jesus, have we really been spending that much time together? Gross.” Raven smiled as she cleared her station.

“Well, it looks like that’ll be changing pretty soon.” Peter started.

“Rielly!” Harley shushed, glaring at Peter, “Can you at least wait until we leave the building?”

“What’s going on? You two haven’t be fired, have you? Is that where you’ve been all afternoon?” Raven asked, concerned, as Harley pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Honestly,” Harley grunted, “At least wait until we’re in the lift where no one can hear us.”

Raven had the sense to wait until they were in the Stang until she pressed for answers. “Alright boys spill, have you been fired?”

“No, the opposite actually,” Peter answered as Harley pulled out of the car park. “Mr. Stark’s taking me on as his personal lab assistant.”

“I’m sorry what?” Raven balked in disbelief, “You’re now the assistant to _the_ Tony Stark? The man you’re constantly fanboying over? The man who’s barely been back on US soil for more than forty-eight hours after he was kidnapped and reported missing for over two months? That Tony Stark?”

“That's the one.” Peter smiled as Raven’s eyes narrowed, shifting from side to side.

“Wait a second, if you’re Mr. Starks's new assistant then I wonder what happened to Miss Potts? Or are you just helping him out in the lab?” Raven asked, confused.

“She’s been promoted to replace Stane,” Harley smirked, “And you’re looking at the new assistant to Pepper Potts.”

“No fucking way,” Raven exclaimed, “I can’t believe this! I’m so excited for you both I could scream!”

Harley rolled his eyes, “You are screaming Reyes.”

“Can you blame me? Jesus Christ, first Stane was arrested and now this? What a fucking day. Promise me that we’ll still be friends and get lunch together, I need to live through you vicariously and I want all the hot goss,” Raven went on as the boys laughed, asking her to not to tell anyone until Tony spoke to Jake about their transfers and Pepper's promotion was announced, “What I don’t understand though is how did this happen? Don’t get me wrong Rielly, you’re crazy smart but Mr. Stark has been back for literally a day and he’s notorious for not working well with others, and Evan? How the fuck did you manage to pop up on Miss Potts' radar? She’s never been involved with our division, I didn’t even know she knew we existed.”

“I’m not sure really, I think it had to do with our projects Griffin and Sinclair presented to him this morning,” Peter replied.

“Huh, weird, well I guess Mr. Stark is pretty well known for his lack of impulse control and eccentricity,” Raven said mostly to herself.

That was as good as an excuse as any, Harley thought.

**Tony Stark's Malibu Beach House**

****

“So what do you think boys?” Tony asked, spinning around, arms stretched, standing near the windows in his living room that overlooked Malibu.

“Wow Mr. Stark, this place is so big, and the view is amazing and-“ Peter was stopped as Harley interrupted.

“It’s lame Tony, it feels empty and void of any personality. Why do you keep it like this?”

“Evan!” Peter called out.

“Geeze kid, tell me how you really feel why don’t you? It’s called billionaire minimalism chic, it’s very in vogue right now and I mean that literally, Vogue did an article on the house last spring.” Tony sassed.

“But you don’t really like it, do you? The lake house wasn’t like this, it was full of warmth and life. It felt like home.” Harley pushed.

“You liked the lake house?” Tony asked, voice vulnerable.

“I stayed there a lot in the beginning, it reminded me of you, it was nice,” Harley trailed off looking towards the fireplace, “But you can leave the school pictures off the mantle this time, no one needs to see how tragic my bowl cut was back then.”

Tony smiled at the memory of the photos he had in the house of the boys and Morgan. “Well, there is one thing that the lake house didn’t have, say hi Jay.”

“Hello, young sirs.” Jarvis’s voice spoke out through the speakers in the room.

“Jarvis?” Peter asked reverently as he placed a hand on the wall.

“Yes, Master Rielly,” Jarvis replied.

“Wow, I can’t believe it. It’s so nice to meet you.” Peter explained in awe.

“Jarvis,” Harley whispered, turning to Tony with wide eyes, “We can’t let Jarvis die this time, we HAVE to back him up somewhere in a closed-off system.”

“Yeah yeah kid, it’s already a part of my six hundred and sixteen step fix-it plan.” Tony shrugged with a grin as Jarvis spoke again.

“Thank you for your concern, Master Evan.”

“What’s with the Master thing?” Peter asked as Harley snorted.

“Like you’re one to talk when it comes to formal titles,” Tony teased before adding, “I think it’s a British thing.”

“Oh. Cool.” Peter said as his attention moved focus, towards the white grand piano. “Woah Mr. Stark, this is awesome. Can you play?”

“I sure can Ry-Pie, it’s a Stark tradition. My mom and I used to sit to sing and play together when I was little, I was just getting around to teaching Maguna when everything happened” Tony answered, a far off look in his eyes.

“Maybe we can do it together?” Peter hinted, feeling hopeful, “If you wanted to, I mean. Unless it's only a thing for proper Starks?”

“Proper Starks?” Tony’s head tilted in confusion.

“Yeah, you know? Like for your real children?” Harley supplied, moving towards the stack of sheet music books on the shelf.

“But you are my real children?” Tony fired back, still just as confused, “I’m don't know if anyone told you or not but I didn’t really go up against Thanos to save the universe y’know.”

“Huh?” Now Harley was confused.

“I only did it so I could bring you both back, everything else was more of a bonus if anything.” Tony realized it was probably a shitty thing to think let alone say out loud, but it was true.

“You only did it for us, Mr. Stark?” Peter said in shock.

“Well, for you and Morgan, she was getting tired of the stories and wanted to meet her older brothers for herself.” Tony smiled, thinking back to all the questions she asked incessantly about Peter and Harley.

“Oh.” Was all Peter could say, it felt like he’d been saying that word a lot today.

“All right, what about this one?” Harley asked as he walked over, holding ‘Top Hits of the 80’s’.

“Good choice kid,” Tony grinned as he started to play the opening bars for a U2 song. It was a bit of a shock to the boys who had never heard Tony sing or play before, Harley could feel his skin prickle and the hairs on Peter's neck stood up.

**_“I have climbed the highest mountains,"_**

**_"I have run through the fields, only to be with you,"_ **

**_"Only to be with you.”_ **

The boys slowly drifted towards Tony without realizing it, standing at different sides of the piano, too nervous to join him in case it shattered the moment and too afraid not to, in case it passed them by. 

**_“I have run, I have crawled,"_**

**_"I have scaled these city walls,"_ **

**_"These city walls, only to be with you."_ **

As their voices filtered in and around each other's they could see the smile spread across Tony's face as his eyes went glassy.

_**"But I still, haven't found, what I'm lookin' for."** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Thursday Australia  
> Wednesday everywhere else
> 
> Please let me know what you think so far :):)


	10. And There's No Such Thing As Too Much Cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family dinner with a side not happy Nick Fury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Walk Like a Man scene inspired by Heart & Soul, one of the first RDJ films I watched as a kid that's stuck with me to this day. 10/10 would recommend.

James Rhodes was certain he’d seen more of Tony Stark than should have been humanly possible in his lifetime. Holding his hair back when they were in college, Tony throwing up after a night out even though he was nowhere near the legal drinking age. Standing up for the _then_ _kid,_ that everyone on campus seemed happy to knock down a few pegs until they realized just how rich Tony was. Yeah, he saw the same things the public saw, the ‘ _Tony Stark snark’_ and the playboy persona laced with an air of arrogance, but he also saw the other things not everyone got to, how protective Tony could be about the people he cared for and yes, he did care, A LOT. Rhodes also got glimpses of how insecure he really was, the trauma the relationship with his father had left on him and sometimes James would catch Tony looking at a photo of his mother, devastated.

Needless to say, after the twenty plus years they’d known each other Rhodes didn’t think there was much left that Tony could do to shock him. Or at least that’s what he thought until he walked into Tony’s beach house to find him in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, _cooking._  
In the kitchen cooking, _while singing._  
In the kitchen cooking while singing to a Frankie Vallie song that he _knew_ was one of Maria Stark’s favorites.  
In the kitchen cooking and singing with two boys who looked barely older than teenagers.

The one with brown hair belted out as he added what looked like an unhealthy amount of garlic to a saucepan,

**_"Bye-bye baby, I don't-a mean maybe, gonna get along somehow.”_ **

**_“Oh-a-oh-a-oh-a,”_** Tony sang, laying out pasta sheets into a dish, “Come on patatino, don’t be such a downer,” he pouted, looking towards the taller blonde who was mixing ricotta.

“You shoot one person with one potato one time and it marks you for life,” The blonde boy rolled his eyes before spinning around,

**_“I’m gonna, walk like a man, fast as I can, walk like a man from you.”_ **

All three of them tried to form what James guessed could be considered a dance line before walking together and kicking,

**_“I'll tell the world, forget about it girl, and walk like a man from you.”_ **

Reaching his limit, Rhodes spoke out, voice high, “Tones?”

“Platypus!” Tony greeted, voice warm, “How’s the brass? Did they buy the intel I gave you on the Ten Rings?”

“Yeah Tony, they spent the day planning for- wait, sorry, aren’t you going to introduce us?” Rhodes asked with a quizzical look, trying to subtly nod in the boy's direction.

“Oh yes! Children, come hither,” Tony pulled the boys in front of him, “This is your Uncle Rhodey. Platypus, these are my sons Evan and Reilly, your nephews.”

“SONS?!” Rhodes didn’t think his voice could get any higher.

“Hi, Mr. Colonel James Rhodes sir! I’m Reilly, but you can call me Ry, it’s so cool to meet a pilot in the US Airforce, and you’re an aerospace engineer too?” Peter rambled on as the Colonel’s eyes went wide.

“Alright bambino, let him breathe before you smother him,” Tony chuckled as he turned towards Harley, “Evan? Do you want to say hi to your uncle?”

“Sup.” Harley nodded while Tony grinned.

“Uh-hi,” Rhodes offered before giving Tony a look, “Tones can we talk in the living room for a moment? _Alone?_ ”

“Why can’t we talk here Sourpatch?”

“Classified information from the board about the intel you gave me, sorry boys, it won’t take long I promise,” Rhodey explained looking apologetic.

Tony was probably going to tell the boys everything anyway but decided to humor him, “All right boys, you can start layering the lasagne and put it into the oven while I talk to your uncle and Evan! _Put down the cheese,_ that’s too much already!”

“Lame!” Harley yelled out as Tony and Rhodes left the kitchen.

“Alright Rhodes, did you get any push-back from the Air Force?” Tony asked as they made their way into the living room. The plan was to outfit Rhodey as War Machine early and allow use by the Air Force as a gesture of goodwill with the understanding that the suit was still the intellectual property of Tony Stark and could not be accessed or maintained by anyone other than Rhodes. In return, Tony was asking for sanction to retrieve and destroy all unauthorized SI weaponry in the middle east as Iron Man with the assistance of said Colonel. Terrorists would take a blow and the Air Force got a shiny new toy, it was a win-win for everyone.

“No, so far so good but Tony what the fuck is going on?” Rhodes asked seriously.

“Huh?”

“Who are the boys in the kitchen you were just being all Brady Bunch with?”

“They’re my sons, Evan and Reilly? We just went through this less than a minute ago, are you feeling okay?” Tony asked sounding concerned.

“Am I okay? Do you hear yourself Tony? You don’t have any sons and I’ve known you since you were sixteen! You hate kids, you’ve always hated kids. Granted, they’re not exactly kids but what the fuck is going on? Pepper and I have looked into them and according to US Government they didn’t exist until three months ago.”

 _‘This is bad, this is very very bad.’_ Tony thought to himself.

“Platypus, look, I know it doesn’t make any sense and the situation seems odd but I need you to trust me, those boys are my sons.” Tony tried.

“Odd? Tony did you hear me? For all intents and purposes, they didn’t exist until a month before you were kidnapped and now you’ve returned and you’re calling them your sons and named them heirs to a billion-dollar company? It doesn’t look odd Tones, _it looks nefarious._ ” James’s voice had gone from high and hysterical to low and concerned.

“Nefarious? Rhodey what are you talking about?” Tony’s tone had taken a hard edge.

“It isn’t uncommon for prisoners in the middle east to undergo psychological conditioning,” Rhodes remarked.

“You think I’ve been brainwashed?” Tony asked, affronted, “Please, if those hack jobs thought a bit of waterboarding was going to break me then they shouldn’t be surprised that they’re dead.”

“Tony I’m serious, Pepper and I are worried, we only just got you back after two months of hell.” James pleaded as they sat down on the couch.

“Rhodey,” Tony sighed, “Please, I’m sorry you were worried but trust me, everything is okay now. I know there’s stuff I’m not telling you but it’s not just my secret to tell, Evan and Reilly have been through a lot as well and they need love and support too.”

“Too?” Rodney was treading carefully, it wasn’t every day Tony opened up about his feelings and James was afraid he would close up again if spooked.

“I need the people who are important to me in my son’s lives Sourpatch.” Tony offered.

“All right Tones, I trust you.” Rhodes smiled.

“Just like that?” Hope lined Tony’s voice.

“Just like that.”

“TONY!” Harley yelled from the kitchen as Tony rolled his eyes.

“WHAT?” Tony yelled back as he and Rhodey got up from the couch.

“COME HERE!”

“Why are you yelling?” Tony asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“Miss Potts is here,” Peter answered as she came into view.

******

It was barely four hours after leaving Stark Industries that Natasha Romanoff made her way through the Triskelion having disembarked a Quinjet. As she entered the meeting room with Coulson she could see the back of Nick Fury standing against the glass wall that looked down into the main atrium.

“Coulson. Romanoff. I hope you’ve brought back some decent intel for me.” Fury greeted without turning to face them.

“Oh, we’ve definitely brought something back,” Natasha replied as she placed the files down on the table while Phil walked to a security panel on the wall.

“Computer, seal the room. Authorization Phillip J Coulson.”

 _“Confirmed.”_ A female voice answered as the windows darkened and the security camera lights flicked off.

“Well, now you have my full attention, let’s see if it’s worth it.” Fury remarked, turning around to sit down. As he flipped through the report his face remained as expressionless as ever but Nat could see his left foot twitch an eighth of an inch.

“Can someone please tell me why I’m reading a report on internal affairs when your mission was to debrief and interview Stark on his capture and escape from terrorists in the Middle East?” Fury asked, eyes still fixed to the file in his hand as Nat answered.

“He had this waiting for us before we arrived.” That made the director lookup.

 _“He knew you were coming?”_ Nick asked Coulson, tense.

“No, he had planned on delivering the information to Shield directly, here, in DC.”

Fury put the file down to raise his eyebrow, it was one of the most visceral reactions Natasha had ever seen of the man.

“I’m afraid it gets worst,” Nat began, “If we haven’t removed all of the moles inside Shield after six months, Stark will be pulling all S.I. funding.”

“Coulson,” Nick barked, jaw tense, “I want Hill here, _now._ ”

“Sir.” Phil nodded getting up to leave.

“Romanoff, I want a read on Barton, judge whether he’s been compromised or not. Lay low to the ground, I need an assessment on who else we can trust. You’re dismissed.”

The two agents were out of the room in the blink of an eye. If they heard the sound of chairs being throw as they walked down the hallway neither of them made mention of it.

******

“So boys, I read in your files that you both graduated from MIT last year with your Doctorates, that’s quite an accomplishment,” Pepper asked as they were all gathered at the table, lasagne dished out.

“Ah-yes, we did.” Peter stuttered nervously as Harley went stiff.

Noticing the tension Pepper continued quickly, “Oh, don’t worry boys! I’m not trying to give you the third degree, James and I had a little talk while you will still in the kitchen. If Tony says your family then that’s good enough for me,” she smiled warmly, “I was just curious about the fields you were interested in.”

Harley relaxed as Peter replied, “That’s okay Miss Potts, I did my thesis on Bio-engineering and Harley did his on Quantum Mechanics.”

“Wow, like I said it's quite an accomplishment, you boys must be very bright and please, call me Pepper... or event Aunt Pepper if you like” Pepper complimented as Peter blushed.

“Thank you, Miss Aunt Pepper,” Peter said as everyone laughed.

“Well, we had pretty big boots to fill ma’am,” Harley added, looking towards Tony who smiled.

“You both make me proud patatino, but I would’ve been regardless, no matter what you or your brother do,” Tony said reaching over to hold both their hands as Pepper and Rhodes shared a look, “but I’m not gonna lie, going to MIT did make me feel a little extra loved,” he grinned as Harley rolled his eyes and Peter laughed.

“We know mechanic, we’re proud of you too,” Harley replied softly as a warm hush settled across the table.

“I’m sorry Tones, my Italian is a little rusty. Patatino?” Rhodes broke the silence as Harley groaned.

“Little potato, it’s a nickname from when I first met Evan when he was what, eight? Nine?” Tony teased.

“No, please, we are not telling that story, Tony no!” Harley pleaded.

“For another time then.” Pepper smiled mercifully.

That woman was a gift from the gods, Harley was sure.

******

“All right guys, we better head off now,” Harley announced and he’s stood up from where they were all relaxing in the living room.

“Oh really? I was kinda hoping you would stay the night... and maybe every night after that?” Tony frowned as he turned to Peter.

“I’m sorry Tony, we’ve got an early start in the morning. It’s the first day of my new job and I‘d hate to let my new boss down.” Harley pointed out, much to the approval of Pepper.

“Nerds,” Tony sighed, “What about you bambino? We can have a late day tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, we’re taking Raven to the office in the morning and we want to talk to her about everything that’s going on,” Peter explained as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Right, that’s okay.” Tony shrugged off as Harley cut in.

“And we’ll talk to her about us moving in here with you? We can lend her the Stang until she finds a car, and catch rides with you into the office and back, would that be okay?”

“If that’s the only thing stopping you from staying here I’ll buy her any car she wants.” Tony tried.

“No Tony, bad! You can’t make people like you by buying them things.” Harley said exasperated as Pepper and Rhodes chuckled, they knew exactly how excessive Tony could be at times.

“All right old man, we’ll see you in the morning.” Harley smiled as he reached out.

“And don’t forget to talk to Rasin.” Tony reminded.

“It’s Raven and we won’t.” Harley sassed as Peter moved in for his hug.

“Bye Mr. Stark, we’ll start getting our stuff packed up and move everything over on the weekend.”

“Good stuff bambino, I’ll get Happy to organize a moving van.” Tony finished, patting Peter on the back.

“Yes, please! I want to spend the day annoying him until he likes me.” Peter joked.

“Sure thing bud, night boys, I love you.”

“Love you too Mr. Stark.”

“Night everyone, love you Tony.” Harley waved as Pepper and Rhodey said goodbye.

“So you’ve known Evan for about thirteen years now? If the first time you met him he was eight?” Rodney pressed once the boys had been gone for a few minutes.

“Trust you to latch onto that piece of information Sourpatch.” Tony sighed as he sat back down.

“How long have you know Peter for Tony?” Pepper asked as she took a sip of wine.

“Nearly six years now, since he was fifteen. He went to a STEM school in New York, even then I could tell how great he was going to be.” Tony trailed off, wistful.

“Well it looks like you were right, they do seem like great boys, you could’ve picked a worse assistant for me that’s for sure.” Pepper complimented as James sighed.

“We’re happy for you Tones, we can see how you three are around each other, it’s blown me away a bit, to be honest. We just want to make sure you’re okay, this situation is a little out of character for you.”

“Thanks guys, I know. We haven’t actually seen each other properly since the boys were in high school but with everything that happened in Afghanistan, it made me realize how much I missed them, then finding out their parents had passed away well... I guess this just made sense.” Pepper and Rhodes' eyes went soft as Tony answered, lying through his teeth.

******

“Enough is enough! I have had it with these _mother fucking snakes_ in this _mother fucking agency!_ ” Nick yelled as he went through report after report of suspected Shield agents.

Agent Hill snorted at his outburst. When she first walked into the room hours ago to find the place trashed with Nick Fury fuming she knew it was going to be a long night. It was reaching dawn as she felt a particularly bad taste in the back of her mouth, reading over the report of her latest department intern, the one she always felt bad for that would stay back for hours collating reports and bringing her coffee. Turns out he also had a penchant for the kidnapping of minors as extortion for their parents along with using them as test subjects for biological weapons of warfare.

“Sir, what exactly are we planning to do? If we start to crack down on the agents confirmed to be working for Hydra it’ll alert the others who’ll most likely scatter to the wind and if we don’t, then they’ll continue to carry on as they please, the sick-o's.” Maria questioned, face hard.

“Well your guess is as good as mine Hill, feel free to chime in with suggestions at any point.” Nick snapped back.

“Are you sure it’s not viable to bring Stark in on this?” Maria tried.

“Right now Stark doesn’t want to touch us with a ten-foot pole and I can’t say I blame him. We’ll be lucky to get him to even consider the Avengers Initiative once this is all over, and that’s only if we can fix our current problem which at the moment, isn’t looking good.” Nick answered, frustrated.

“Well, he did say we only had to make sure we weren’t harboring anyone here at Shield in six months' time didn’t he Coulson? If we start cracking down now and most of Hydra jump ship it’ll leave less for us to hunt down.” Maria thought out loud.

“You can’t be serious?” Phil looked, disapproving.

“Hey, I’m just spitballing here, do you have anything better?” Maria defended.

“We’ll leave it on the back burner, if we haven’t made decent progress after two months it may be our only option before Stark does the halfway sweep,” Nick nodded to himself, “but I want something better people, bring me solutions, not problems!”

“I say right now we keep tabs on anyone Stark's bugs flagged and observe their interactions to see how deep this thing goes.” Phil put forward as Maria frowned, suddenly reminded of her suspicions.

“How exactly did he get data mines into our servers? According to this, some of them were placed when he was supposedly in captivity.” Maria asked, concerned.

“That is a damn good question Agent Hill, _one I myself asked,_ and sent Coulson and Romanoff in to answer for me,” Nick snarked, glaring at Phil, “but instead, all they brought me was this heaping pile of shit!”

Phil shot Nick a wry half-smile, "I'm sorry sir, would you have rather I found that out instead and we continued on, blissfully unaware?" he managed to duck just in time as a paperweight flew passed his head as he carried on reviewing the extent of the report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SICK OF THESE MOTHER FUCKING SNAKES ON THIS MOTHER FUCKING PLANE
> 
> Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
> 
> Next chapter out Monday Asia Pacific Time, Sunday everywhere else.


	11. And Raven Is Shook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel tea is spilt and Greek Mythology is told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He's a few hours early with this one, enjoy <3

“What up losers? How was dinner with the boss? I want every detail, is it true he has an inhouse army of sex maids and a cocaine room?” Raven asked excitedly as she slid into the backseat of the car.

“A cocaine what?!” Peter squeaked as Harley smirked.

“A cocaine room? A room full of cocaine in which said cocaine is snorted? It’s pretty self-explanatory.” Raven railed on.

“You have to admit, she’s got you there Ry,” Harley teased, “and no Raven, there was no army of sex maids or cocaine room.”

“Well, that’s boring, what was the point of even going?” Reyes joked.

“Hey listen, Ray. Evan and I have been thinking and there’s something we need to tell you.” Peter started, suddenly nervous as Harley’s eyes went shifty, looking at Raven through the rear mirror.

“OH MY GOD, _I KNEW IT!_ ” Raven exclaimed from the back, eyes wide and giddy.

“What?” Peter asked, shocked.

“You two have finally come to terms with the fact that you’re both in love and have decided to be gay for each other, I CALLED IT!” Raven rambled as Peter slammed his head into the dashboard, “I’ve always wanted a gay best friend and now I have two!”

“Reyes, I’m starting to get mildly concerned about the lady boner you’ve got going for Reilly and I and no, that’s not what’s happening,” Harley replied before sassing, “ALSO, you already have a gay best friend, an amazing one might I add, _me_.”

“You’re not a fun gay though,” Raven rolled her eyes, smirking, “you’re a mean gay, and we never go shopping or get lattes or talk about boys.”

“Oh really?” Harley asked sarcastically, eyebrow raised, “Well, since I’m not a fun gay I guess I’ll have to change my mind about letting you borrow the Stang until you manage to get a new car?”

“WHAT?! You’re giving me your car?” Raven yelled as Harley laughed.

“No, Reilly and I are letting you _borrow_ our car, and if you get so much as a scratch on her I’ll be pissed,” Harley warned as Raven squealed.

“Yes yes yes! I can’t wait to- wait, hold up, why are you giving me your car? Is this hush money? Or a bribe? Do you need me to lie for you under oath or falsify an alibi? Because I’m totally down for that if it gets me this car.”

“Borrow, Raven.” Harley corrected as Peter elaborated.

“Ah, we’re kinda moving in with Mr. Stark, so… This way you’ll still be able to get around and we can catch rides with him to the office and back.”

“WHAT!” Raven screamed in confusion, “You’re moving in with Tony Stark, our boss, the owner of our billion-dollar company?”

“Yup,” Harley answered.

“All right, what the fuck is going on? I’ve obviously missed something important here.” Raven questioned aggressively.

“Ahhh, see, here’s the thing we wanted to tell you,” Peter began, nervous again as he looked to Harley for support, “Evan and I aren’t exactly who we’ve said we are.”

“What do you mean?” Concern laced Raven’s voice while Harley braced himself for the scream he knew was coming as Peter carried on.

“We’re from the future.”

“…”

Harley whipped his head back to find Raven silent, her mouth open and eyes blinking in disbelief. _‘Huh,’_ he thought, _‘cool’._

******

“Uh, excuse me, am I in the right room?” A young agent asked in a Scottish accent.

“Why is there a child in my ready room?” Fury questioned as Hill’s eyebrow furrowed while she turned to look at Coulson and Romanoff.

“Agent Leopold Fitz, he’s with me sir,” Coulson answered as Fitz started handing out sheets to everyone.

“Greek mythology?” Nat asked, curious.

“All myths are based on some form of truth,” Fitz started, “Now everyone knows the story of Hyrda, cut off one head and two more grow to take its place.”

“Please tell me that I’m not reading a Wikipedia article.” Hill did not sound impressed.

“Uhhh- well the- the thing is.” Fitz stuttered.

“Really Coulson?” Nat raised her eyebrow.

“Keep going, Agent Fitz.” Coulson pressed.

“Yes! So, cut off one head and two more take its place, but! The Hydra has one immortal head in the middle, surrounded by the others. Hercules managed to slay the beast by cutting its immortal head.”

 _“Hercules?”_ Hill was losing her patience.

“A lynchpin?” Nat had gathered, “Take the leader down and the rest will fall.”

“Not per se, well, not a person. The immortal head would suggest something other. I’ve poured through everything Dr. Stark flagged in the database, and under the layers of code and subroutines I found this.” Fitz pointed to the main view screen.

“And what exactly is it that I’m looking at Agent?” Fury asked as the code lines began to reassemble themselves while Fitz tapped away.

“I believe it’s a form of consciousness,” Fitz explained as an image started to slowly appear, “Buried in the makeup of zeros and ones. The program's old, if I had to guess I’d say it’s been here since nearly the very beginning.”

“I’m sorry, the beginning of what?” Hill asked.

“The beginning of Shield, or it’s digital age at least. The first computers were brought it for use in the mid-sixties, well, the DDP-116’s were, but we didn’t start to interconnect them until the seventies” Fitz’s hands were running across a keyboard in an attempt to clear the image.

“Shield had computers in the sixties?” Nat asked in surprise as Fitz carried on.

“Pretty basic ones, massive as well. The tape length that would’ve been required for this would’ve taken up an entire facility.”

“And you think this program could be some kind of artificial intelligence?” Hill summarised, curious.

“I’m not really sure it’s artificial, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen or read about but the way its code is structured resembles the synapses of a human brain.”

“You’re telling me that there were a bunch of people in the sixties smart enough to come up with this thing?” Fury snapped as Fitz went red.

“I’m just telling you what I’ve found! This isn’t exactly my area of expertise but there is someone who might have a better idea of sentient computer software...” Fitz trailed off as Fury looked him straight in the eyes.

“If you were about to suggest Tony Stark I'd like to remind you that I have been known to strike an Agent or two,” Fury stated, his tone flat before sighing, “Stark has already made it abundantly clear that he won’t be offering any assistance to us in this mess.”

“Can you at least tell us what this program has been doing all this time and how it relates to our current situation Agent Fitz.” Hill pushed forward.

“I’ve found traces of its code tied to every instance of activity flagged so far in our database, somehow this consciousness has tied itself to Hydras operations, manipulating them and their communications. I believe this consciousness controls Hydra itself.”

“Does it know that we’ve found it?” Nat asked, suspicious.

“Not yet no, I’ve managed to observe it from a distance without actually interacting with it so far. But, if we were able to hack into its program-“

“We would have a way of finding every compromised agent within Shield.” Hill finished.

“Not just Shield,” Fitz pointed out, “this thing has its code spread out and embedded across the world, we could find every Hydra operative in existence.”

“Is that- is that a man?” Hill asked as the code on the view screen started to resemble a man in glasses.

“Arnmin Zola,” Coulson stood up, “it can’t be.”

“You know this thing?” Nat turned to Coulson.

“He was Swiss scientist that worked for Red Skull in the Second World War. He was with the team of scientists that Shield expatriated as part of Operation Paperclip.”

“Along with the leaders of the Nazi Party the US recruited to gain military advantage over the Soviets during the Cold War?” Nat asked, tone condescending.

“Don’t act as though the Russians didn’t do it either Romanoff. Zola died in the seventies, how did he get from there to here?” Coulson answered, looking to Fitz.

“As interesting as this all is, do you have a way to use this to our advantage Agent?” Fury was hoping for some semblance of good news.

“Uh, no sir. If I try to access the program there’s a good chance it could lock me out at best, at worst it could kill us all.”

“So we’re back to square one, which is sweet fuck all. I want someone here to find something of use before Hydra catches on and kills us all.” Fury stormed out of the room.

******

“So let me get this straight.” Raven was trying to wrap her head around everything she had just been told.

“You’re both from the future?”

“Yup,” Peter replied.

“A future in which half the universe was snapped out of existence for five years?”

“Uh-huh.”

“By an alien?”

“Thanos.” Peter corrected.

“And then Tony Stark invented time travel to bring everyone back?”

“More or less yeah.”

“The same Tony Stark who apparently is a superhero in a metal suit?”

“Not yet, but he will be soon.”

“But then he died bringing everyone back, so you two came back to save him?”

“That was the plan.”

“Using a different kind of time travel than the one he invented?

“That we stole from an order of wizards.”

“Of which Evan is one?”

“Sorta kinda,” Harley answered.

“But now Mr. Stark has also traveled back? But none of you has any idea how or why, and you’re both also superheroes with powers.”

“Pretty much,” Harley smirked as he could see the fog around Ravens head start to clear.

“And Harley in Tennessee, _he’s you?_ ”

“Yup.”

“Huh,” Raven started, “Did you guys write any lottery numbers down before you left?”

“Raven no!” Peter tsked as Harley laughed.

“I have so many questions! When do the rest of the Harry Potter movies come out? Does Bradgelina have a boy or a girl? What happens in the last Twilight book? Who becomes President next year? DO THE PATRIOTS WIN THE SUPERBOWL?!” Raven was ecstatic while Harley answered.

“I can’t remember, didn’t care, Bella becomes a vampire, Barack Obama, the first African American President who gets replaced by Matthew Ellis and I have no idea who wins the Super Bowl it was like fourteen years ago for me and I’m literally eight right now remember?”

“Boo,” Raven sassed, “Wait, if you’re from 2026 why aren’t you both older?”

“We didn’t age when we weren’t existing for five years,” Peter replied.

“Right, gotcha,” Raven blinked, “so what am I like in the future?”

“Um, we never met you in the other timeline,” Peter explained.

“Oh... then why are we friends this time around?” Raven asked, curious.

“Because you’re entertaining and we couldn't get rid of you if we tried,” Harley smirked as Raven laughed.

******

“Good morning boys.” Pepper smiled warmly as she walked out of Jake's office as Harley and Peter were packing up their things in the labs.

“Hi, Miss Potts.”

“Morning Miss Potts,” Harley replied.

“I told you boys, it’s Aunt Pepper.”

“Even at work?” Harley checked, unsure.

“Even at work,” Pepper answered as Jake and Jacapo walked out, “If anyone wants to complain about favoritism I’ll be happy to point out that your dad is only the CEO because his dad was too.”

“Ah, Richards and Edwards, it’s a shame to see you both go but I hope you’ll be poking your heads around down here from time to time?” Jake said fondly.

“Of course Doctor Griffin.” Peter smiled

“Can’t leave this one alone for too long.” Harley chuckled as he nudged Raven's shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you later losers,” Raven rolled her eyes, “and I’ll let you know how the immunizers go.”

“Do you have everything boys? You can always run back down to visit if you forget something.” Pepper started to move to the elevator.

“Yes Aunt Pepper!” Peter said as he picked up a box overflowing with his latest projects and notes on the Intelli-Crops.

“Coming Aunt Pepper,” Harley turned to leave before giving everyone a wave goodbye, “Thank you for everything Dr. Griffin and Dr Sinclair, it was a privilege working with you.”

“Don’t be strangers, boys.” Jake reminded as the doors closed.

“Okay, boys. Reilly, Tony’s in his lab on the executive suite and Evan, we’ll be taking a jet up to San Fran to meet with potential partners in Silicon Valley now that we’re moving away from weapons.” Pepper tapped away on her PDA before handing it over to Harley.

“Consumer electronics?” Harley guessed.

“It’s a possibility we’re open to moving into but we’re mostly going to get a lay of the land. Do you have one of your prototypes for the StarkPhone in there?” Pepper looked as Harley pulled one of them out of the box he was holding, “Perfect.”

******

“Hi, Mr Stark!” Peter said excitedly as he walked into the lab putting his box onto one of the benches, starting to unpack, “What are we working on today?”

“Mr Stark?” Peter asked as Tony stood there staring at him, “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry bambino,” Tony answered, “It’s just, you’re here in the labs with me and we get work on stuff together like old times. I still can’t believe I’m this lucky, I missed you and Harley so much.”

“Mr Stark, we missed you too, but we’re here now and we’re not going anywhere.” Peter decided to let the misname slide.

“God I’m getting sentimental in my old age.”

“Old age? This is the youngest I’ve ever seen you Mr. Stark.” Peter pointed out.

“I’ll have you know that I’m still fifty-three up here where it counts,” Tony tapped his head, “Years of experience over you kid.”

“Eons more like it.” Peter joked.

“Watch the sass, Richards. Now, how do you feel about a new suit?”

“Yes yes yes!”

******

“Uh Coulson, I think you better take a look at this,” Fitz called out in shock.

“What is it, Agent Fitz? Have we been detected by Zola?” Phil turned to the view screen to find the image of Zola unchanged.

“No, I was going through the records of computer installations for Shield and one of the first sites digitized was Camp Leigh. I was going through the base's archives and I found this.”

“Well, I’ll be dammed.” Phil said in disbelief, staring at the photo Fitz had just pulled up, “Hill, get Fury in here ASAP.”

******

“Master Reilly,” Jarvis’s voice interrupted the steady stream of AC/DC, “I’m receiving an encrypted call for sir I believe is urgent.”

“Friend or foe?”

“Unknown.”

“Erm, okay, patch it through Jay,” Peter instructed, “Hello?”

“Stark!” A voice barked.

“No this is Rielly, who are you?”

“Who am I? _Who the hell are you?_ Where’s Stark?” Peter started to recognize the voice of Director Fury.

“Oh, it’s you. He ran down to get lunch and left his phone here.”

“Bambino, I got you pizza. Who are you talking to?” Tony asked as he walked in, balancing trays from the cafeteria.

“Thanks Dad, Nicky is on the phone for you.” Peter could hear Fury spluttering on the other end of the line.

“What’s up eye patch?” Tony grinned as he put the trays down.

“Stark! You haven’t been working on anything that involves time travel have you?” Tony froze at the sound of Fury’s question, thankful that it wasn’t a video call.

“Not that I know of, what makes you ask?” Tony tried, tone careful.

“I just so happen to be in possession of a photo of you from decades ago, taken at a Shield facility before your birth. Camp Leigh.”

The color drained from Tony’s face. Was it possible that Steve and he had been captured on film when they went back to Camp Leigh for the Tesseract and the Pym Particles? Tony was certain that that shouldn’t have happened in this timeline, but if Fury had a photo of him there it didn’t add up.

“I see that the cat's got your tongue, Coulson told me you were planning on making a trip out here to DC. Why don’t you move it up to today and bring the boys Romanoff met with you.”

 _“The call has been terminated sir,"_ Jarvis informed.

“Mr. Stark, what’s going on?”

“Jarvis call Pepper please.”

******

“So what did you think Evan?” Pepper asked as they made their way out of the building, having just finished their meeting with a start-up company that worked on mobile phone designs.

“Their actual phone concepts were nothing special, I don’t think physical keypads are going to be around much longer.”

“You think touch screens will take over? Like Apple's iPhone that came out last year?” Pepper continued as Harley nodded, “I don’t think Blackberry will like that very much.”

Harley smirked as he went on, “Their modem parts looked promising though. If we could further develop their 3G technology before Apple makes their next release it would put us ahead of the market.”

The sound of Pepper's phone interrupted their conversation. “Looks like your dad’s already calling to check up on you,” Pepper laughed, “Hi Tony, is everything okay?”

“Pepper, are you and Harley on your way to the airstrip?” Tony sounded tense.

“We’re just leaving the meeting now. What’s wrong?”

“I need you to put Evan on the jet to DC and I’ll meet him there, I’m sending another plane up now to bring you home.”

“DC? Tony what’s going on.”

“No time to explain, I’m sorry Pep but it’s an emergency, tell him Reilly and I will meet him when he lands, we’re about to take off now.”

******

There was a car waiting for Harley the moment the jet touched down in Washington. He opened the door to find Tony and Peter looking worried as they launched into an explanation of what was going on.

“Did Fury say anything about Rogers?” Harley asked as they made their way to the Triskelion.

“No, either they didn’t recognize him or the photo was taken after we split up,” Tony answered thinking it was more towards the latter. There was no way Coulson would've missed the Cap, being the fanboy he was.

“Raven! We forgot about Raven! How is she going to get home?” Peter’s eyes went wide.

“Shit.” Harley cursed, coming to the same realization.

“Don’t worry boys, I’ll get Happy to drop her off and pick her up if we’re not back by the morning.”

They would not be making it back by morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be out Thursday in the AU and Wednesday everywhere else as always xx
> 
> Get ready, because the next one is going way off course.
> 
> Try and guess in the comments :D


	12. And They Gotta Get Back To Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I gotta get back to Hogwarts  
> I gotta get back to school  
> I gotta get myself to Hogwarts  
> Where everyone thinks I'm cool
> 
> Sorry what?
> 
> Lots of time travel confusion and s a s s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m sorry for the delay, life has been crazy with COVID-19. I work in IT and Comms and it’s been a massive fuck off helping our clients transition to ‘work from home’ solutions.
> 
> Australia hasn’t gone into lockdown yet but everyone’s trying to get prepared.
> 
> I was also supposed to travel to Europe in May but it’s not looking like that’s going happen.
> 
> I hope you’re all as safe as you can be xxx

**The Bus 2014**   
**Code name S.H.I.E.L.D. 6-1-6**

“This could be a trap,” Tripp pointed out, looking at everyone gathered in the flying command center, “So far, everything has been a trap. Am I wrong?”

Skye looked down, avoiding eye contact as Tripp carried on.

“Hydra could’ve sent you those coordinates.”

Phil reached down into his inner suit jacket to pull out his Shield badge, "Nick Fury gave me this badge - and when he did, I swore an oath, _we all did_. To serve when everything else fails, to be humanity's last line of defense, to be the shield."

**DC 2008**

“Nice,” Peter said, impressed as they crossed the bridge to Theodore Roosevelt Island, the only entrance and exit by land to the Triskelion.

“All right boys, listen up. Fury thinks he has something on us and he might, but we’re not going to give him any information without a fight so you,” Tony pointed to Harley, “do your normal passive aggressive sass thing.”

Harley flicked Tony a salute.

“And you,” Tony turned to Peter, “say nothing and keep your eyes and ears open, remember, SHIELD is crawling with Hydra agents at this point in time. I want you two close, under no circumstances are we to split up. Do you understand?”

“What if I need to pee?” Peter asked.

“Then we’re all peeing bambino.”

“We’re not kids Tony,” Harley said, affronted.

“No you’re not but I’ve only been back on American soil for four days now, I haven’t had time to develop my nanotech yet or finish fabricating a new suit, all I’ve got on me is my wristwatch gauntlet I threw together this morning. If things get dicey we’ll need your Harry Potter magic and Reilly’s spider powers. _Capiche?_ ”

“Capiche,” Harley answered as the car came to a stop.

******

“Hello again, I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to catch your names yesterday,” Nat said sweetly as Tony and the boys entered Fury’s ready room, led by Phil.

“Sup Romanova,” Harley nodded as he turned to everyone else, “Nicky, Hill, _oooooh Arnmin Zola?_ Now that’s interesting.” He said looking at the viewscreen.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Hill asked.

“They’re with me Hillsong, my sons,” Tony cut in, “Now as lovely as it is to come to visit you all in the pits of Shieldra and yes, by the way, that’s what I’m calling you, can someone please show me the photo that’s got everyone’s panties in a twist and Fury under the impression that I’m some kind of time-traveling God?”

“Trust me when I say that no one here is under the delusion that you’re a god, Stark,” Fury started as everyone took a seat, “I would like an explanation though, on what you were doing at Camp Leigh in 1965 five years before you were born.”

 _“1965?”_ Peter, Harley, and Tony asked at the same time, confused. That was five years before Tony and Steve jumped back to.

“Did you all practice that on the way here? It’s very convincing,” Phil smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes, placing a photo down on the table in front of Tony, “This is you, isn’t it Mr. Stark?”

Tony took one look at the photo and laughed, “You can’t be serious? _Uncle Ernesto?_ You pulled me here because of a photo of Uncle Ernesto?”

All of the SHIELD Agents looked blank in the face.

“You’re telling us this isn’t you?” Nat asked suspiciously.

“Of course it’s not me Romanoff, there’s a copy of this photo hanging on the wall somewhere in the house in New York. I never realized it was taken at Camp Leigh.” Tony answered, studying the photo of his Uncle from Italy on his father’s side. Howard took great pride in teaching Tony the achievements of the Stark dynastic line, it was one of the only times his father talked to him as a child. Uncle Ernesto worked in Computer Science, he was one of Howard’s second cousins and had two sons who worked alongside him with Italian names Tony couldn’t remember, _or maybe Spanish_. He had to admit, he did bear a striking resemblance to his Uncle that he never noticed until now, minus the signature goatee.

“Is that a party?” Harley noticed the glasses being held by people in the background along with streamers and banners on the wall, “In a restricted SHIELD facility?”

“It was in celebration of Gemini 4, Shield helped NASA design a lot of the equipment used for the spacewalk.” Hill stated

“It was the sixties, things were different back then,” Phil said as opened up another file, “Mr. Stark, did you know that your Uncle Ernesto wasn’t recorded as being in the US when this was taken? According to Italian Immigration, he was actually in Denmark at the time.”

 _‘That doesn’t make sense.’_ Tony thought.

“Did you also know that he was photographed with two other young men we can’t track down at all? According to the note written on the back of this photo, their names are Pietro and Javier Stark.” Phil carried on.

“Pietro and Javier! I knew one of their names was Spanish!” Tony remembered as everyone stared at him, _‘Wait a second,’_ he thought, _‘Pietro and Javier… as in Peter and Harley?’_

“Maybe now you can understand why we all have our panties in a twist,” Phil said, handing over a photo of Tony and the boys at the party in Camp Leigh 1965, “Are you still sticking to your story?”

“I-I don’t- what?” Tony was at a loss.

“Is that really us Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, looking at the photo. All three of them were wearing work suits and ties with the boys sporting glasses.

It went unnoticed by no one from SHIELD that Tony’s supposed son had just called him Mr. Stark.

“Tony, how could this be possible?” A line settled across Harley’s forehead as he started running through theories in his head. Why would they jump back to 1965? HOW would they have jumped back? The artifact they swiped from the Sanctum only allowed you to travel back in time. If they used that they would’ve been stuck there and Tony’s method didn’t really let you make any changes to your own timeline, it just opened up a bunch of alternate realities. The intricacies of it all were making his head spin.

“You expect us to believe that you have no idea what you’re doing in these photos?” Hill pressed, unconvinced as Peter’s eye caught something in the background of the photo, it was barely visible but his ocular implants managed to clear the resolution. He leaned forward to whisper something into Tony’s ear.

“Why don’t you ask Natalia? I’m sure she’ll tell you everything she knows.” Tony grinned, pointing out the blur of red hair that was unmistakably Nat as Phil and Hill balked.

“I want some answers, and I want them now.” Fury growled in frustration.

“I’m not the one with the Ph.D. in Quantum Mechanics in the room,” Tony said dryly, turning to Harley, “So watcha think kid?”

“Well, I know it couldn’t have been your Time Travel tech seeing as it’s only theoretical right now.”

“Theoretical time travel?” Fitz said stunned.

“And I doubt it was me, there’s no way I can send four people that far back.”

 _“Actual time travel?”_ Fitz's voice rose an octave as Harley winked at him.

“Are you in possession of working time travel technology?” Hill asked, voice flat.

“I’m afraid that’s classified,” Harley answered happily, “There’s no way we’re sharing that kind of information with an agency that didn’t even realize it was harboring holdover terrorists from the second world war, sorry not sorry.”

Phil blinked before turning to look around as Nat smirked and Fury looked like he was halfway to an aneurysm.

“The real question is why we would want to go back to 1965 in the first place. Why did these photos surface now?” Harley was on a roll it seemed.

“Arnmin Zola managed to embed his consciousness within SHIELD's database in the seventies and has been pulling Hydras strings ever since,” Hill answered.

“Mmmmm we know,” Tony mentioned as Hill frowned, “I wanted to see if you managed to pick up on that one yourselves. _Very good work by the way_.” He said, patronizing.

“And that has what to do with Camp Leigh?” Harley interrupted noticing Fury’s eye start to twitch.

“Leigh was the first installation to go digital in the sixties, DDP-“ Fitz tried before Harley jumped in.

“DDP-116’s were installed that would eventually form the basis of the mainframe when SHIELD interconnected a decade later.”

“Ah- yes, that’s right actually.”

“You’re looking for a backdoor into Zola’s program?” Harley guessed.

“God fucking damn it Stark, is there anything your kids don’t seem to know?” Fury yelled, finally losing his temper.

“How to make lasagne without killing everyone with garlic and cheese.” Tony’s eyes seemed to twinkle, he was having way too much fun with this.

“You can never have too much cheese!” Harley pointed out, hurt.

“Believe you me kid, you can.”

“ENOUGH!” Fury’s hand slammed down on the table, “Answers, now.”

“Seeing as time travel’s involved, I think our best bet would be to go to the MMA and ask for an audience with the Ancient One.” Harley looked at Peter and Tony.

“The wizards? Really?” Tony said, offended at the idea.

“The MMA?” Phil asked, curious.

“Masters of the Mystic Arts,” Harley answered before looking at Nat, “I guess the comrade can come with us since she’s in the photo as well. We better portal though, don’t want Shieldra to follow us and crash the party plus Nepal is hours away.”

“Right then!” Tony clapped his hands together, “Off to Hogwarts we go, no time to waste, _Eyepatch, Hillsong, Agent, Bagpipes,_ catcha later. Romanoff, over here if you don’t mind.” Nat looked unimpressed as she moved over, surreptitiously sliding a thumb drive up her sleeve.

“Please keep your arms and legs inside the wormhole at all times and remember that flash photography is not allowed.” Harley started to circle his arms, doing his best 'fake happy announcer voice' making Peter giggle and everyone in the room confused.

“Mantenga los brazos y las piernas dentro del wormhole en todo momento y recuerde que no se permite la fotografía con flash.” Peter said in the same voice.

“Was that Spanish?” Fitz looked around lost when suddenly the portal started to appear and his jaw hit the floor. It goes without saying that he wasn’t the only one in the room shocked.

******

Natasha wasn’t the type to be surprised or caught off guard but it still happened from time to time. Taking two steps in Washington DC in one moment, only to find herself in a monastery the next counted as one of those times. It looked as if they were in the far east and she could spot people dressed like monks with strings of orange symbols flying around in a courtyard a few meters away.

“What’s the matter? Couldn’t find the doorbell?” A voice asked from behind them, followed by the sound of slurping from a straw.

The group turned to find a lady lazing in a lawn chair with sunglasses and a drink.

“Well since you’re here could you grab some ice from the fridge? It’s hotter than I thought it would be,” The Ancient One shook her drink while lowering her sunglasses to look at the newcomers, “Ah, _the Stark boys_ , I was wondering when this day would come.” She stood up, putting her glass down.

“Sorcerer Supreme.” Harley stepped forward and bowed, his actions repeated by the others.

“My, my, my. Haven’t you three been up to no good?” The Ancient One scolded lightly as she sensed the displacement in their timelines, “But you,” She said to Nat, “Your adventures in time have only just begun.”

 _“Adventures?”_ Harley stressed, “As in plural?”

“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” The Ancient One started walking into the building, “come along now, much to do.”

“God, you’re just as cryptic as Strange, is that a requirement for head magician?” Tony huffed as they made their way downstairs into a room made of complete stone.

“Not particularly,” She smiled as Tony rolled his eyes, “but it helps.”

“I’m sorry,” Nat spoke up, “What exactly is going on? Who are you?”

“I am the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and this is not the first time I have met the four of you in this reality.”

Nat looked skeptical while Tony, Peter, and Harley stared at each other, uneasy.

“The first time we met was over forty years ago when you gave me this note.” She handed a piece of paper over to Nat that was folded in half and yellowed with age.

“Wait, is this the same note we gave you back then or did you write a new one that says the same thing?” Peter asked, curious.

“It's the same note.”

“But then, if we go back and give it to you, and then you give it back to us again… _how old is this note?_ ”

“As old as time itself.”

“Woah.” Peter’s voice was lined with awe as the Ancient One smiled.

“And how is it we manage to meet you in 1965?” Nat asked.

“The Time Stone.” All three boys answered at the same time.

“Coulson’s not here and I promise I won’t tell him, do you actually practice that?”

“No.” They all answered together, grinning.

“I thought the Eye could only manipulate the flow of time, not actually transport through it.” Harley looked at the stone encased in its holder around the Ancient One’s neck.

“Not ordinarily no,” She answered leaning forward to whisper in Harley's ear, “But combined with the artifact you managed to sneak away with from the future it should.”

Harley's ears went red as he handed it over, the Ancient One levitating it in front of her as she opened the Eye. Tendrils of green light wrapped around the pocket watch breaking through the glass and vibranium Harley had forged around it. Static filled the air as the watch seemed to pulse, Peter could feel his spider senses prickling across his body and settle at the nape of his neck. The Ancient One’s physical form seemed to multiply infinitely in the same spot before coming together as one as the pulsing stopped.

“This will carry you to 1965 and back, be careful not to lose it.” She said, handing the watch back to Harley as he levitated it with his hands and closed his eyes to concentrate.

“Around me,” Harley called out as Peter, Tony and Nat rushed to his sides.

“We have to make sure we’re touching him, you might want to hold on tight,” Peter said, grabbing onto Harley as the static made their hair rise, defying gravity. Tony and Nat looked mildly nervous as they did the same just before a bright flash covered every inch of the room.

******

“What just happened?” Fitz turned around to face everyone else still in the room, “You all saw that right? Tell me I wasn’t the only one that saw that.”

“Yes Agent Fitz, we all saw that,” Phil answered, “What exactly was that?”

“Could it have been a holographic projection? Maybe they were never really here in the first place?” Hill theorized.

“Even if that were true it doesn’t explain where Agent Romanoff went.” Phill turned to look at Fury who was being uncharacteristically quiet considering what had just happened, “Sir?”

“You’re all dismissed until Romanoff returns.” Fury barked before stalking out of the room.

Coulson and Hill stared at each other in confusion.

“Oh no. No, no, no. Agent Coulson?” Fitz broke them from their stupor, “I think my USB is missing, the one with the backdoor program I was working on?”

“Romanoff,” Hill said, catching on, “She’s good.”

“What do you mean?” Fitz asked.

“Don’t worry Agent Fitz, I think everything’s going to work out for the best.” Coulson pat Fitz on the back before leaving with Hill.

“What?”

******

“What the fuck! That hurt even more than last time.” Peter groaned out from the heap of bodies he was tangled in on the floor, having just been spat out from a flashpoint of light along with Harley, Nat, and Tony.

“Shut. Up.” Harley grunted under his breath as he stood up, glaring at Peter before nodding to Nat hoping she was too disoriented to hear what Peter had just said.

Peter for his part looked sheepish as Harley pulled him up to his feet before the two helped Tony and Nat up.

“I’d be careful if I were you we just had the floors scrubbed.”

Harley's head snapped to the direction of the Ancient One as Peter noticed the floor was wet.

“I don’t understand, did it not work?” Harley looked around finding the room unchanged for the most part.

“Typical,” Tony muttered as he gathered his bearings, “Never trust a magician. Hack jobs.”

“What year is it?” Nat asked having found her senses.

“1965. Who are you?”

“How do you look the same? You haven’t aged at all.” Nat pointed out as Peter handed over the note.

“Very good face cream, from France,” The Ancient one opened the note, eyebrows rising, “Oh. Well aren’t you four a very trying lot. Now has anyone ever been to this Camp Leigh before?”

Tony was the only one to raise his hand much to the suspicion of Nat.

“Perfect. I can use your memory to get you there and... Evan was it?” Harley nodded as she looked at him, “You’ll be able to get everyone back. I’ll keep this safe for you in the meantime.”

Harley only just noticed that she was holding the pocket watch he very obviously did not have.

“Now, we should probably get you all some clothes. I’ll lead the way shall I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ima try to upload on Monday AU time (Sunday everywhere else) but we’ll see how it goes.
> 
> <3


	13. And Peter Is Coming Out Of His Cage And He’s Doing Just Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cocktails, conga lines and cigarettes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, he’s back!
> 
> I hope you’re all as safe and healthy as you can be <3

**Camp Lehigh 1970**

Steve was checking his six as he walked down the main corridor of the underground base, having just obtained the Pym Particles from Dr. Pym’s lab when he noticed the lady he and Tony had run into earlier in the elevator talking to security guards.

“And you've never seen these two men before?” One of the guards asked.

“No, I've got an eye for this. The two of them looked fishy.” She answered.

“Can you describe them?”

“Well, one of them had a hippie beard.”

 _‘Damn it,’_ Steve thought to himself as the security guard continued.

“Hippie? Like Bee Gees or Mungo Jerry?”

“Definitely Mungo Jerry.” She said as the three of them made their way past Steve.

_‘I’m going to shave that goatee off myself one day’_

**Kamar-Taj 1965**

“Nuh-uh, no way! There’s no way you’re getting that razor anywhere near me Reilly!” Tony screeched.

“But Mr. Staaaaark! You didn’t have a goatee in the photo Shield found,” Peter pointed out.

“Those puppy dog eyes didn’t work for Maguna and they’re not going to work for you either bambino.”

“That’s not how she told it, old man,” Harley deadpanned before smiling.

“You leave your sister out of this you demon child, no one is getting anything sharp near my face.”

Nat was paying close attention to the conversation, storing each piece of information away in the back of her head. Her mind was racing with questions but on the outside, she showed no signs of difference.

“And you say that we’re the dramatic ones,” Harley laughed as he reached his hand out to Tony’s face, “Come here boomer, I promise I won’t cut your precious hair off.”

“Excuse you! I’m a seventies baby. That’s Gen X for your information,” Tony sassed as he moved closer.

“Ok boomer,” Harley answered as he waved his hand across Tony’s chin, “There, one dis-illusioned beard.”

Tony whipped his head towards a mirror in horror, “Did you just Harry Potter my goatee away! _I can’t even feel it!_ ”

“Impressive,” Nat remarked.

“Dude chill, it’s still there,” Harley rolled his eyes as he snapped his fingers causing the illusion to fade and the facial hair to reappear before snapping them again to make Tony’s bare face.

Tony for his part looked less offended but still wary.

“Wow, you look so much younger Mr. Stark,” Peter said, staring intently at Tony’s face.

“He’s right,” Harley added, squinting his eyes, “it’s weird.”

“I like it!” Peter exclaimed.

“I am young! Most twenty-year-olds don’t have thirty-eight-year-old dads y'know.”

“Yes well most seventeen-year-olds know how to use a condom,” Harley said sarcastically.

“I’m hearing sounds of unprotected sex and vanity, I’m going to assume you’re ready,” The Ancient One called out before entering the room to find the four in 1960’s dress, “Don’t you all look very swish.”

The boys were in dark navy suits with white shirts and black ties, complete with pocket squares and tidy hair. Natasha was in a dark green cocktail dress that hugged her figure and her hair was swept up into a beehive.

“Uh, Miss Ancient One ma’am?” Peter asked nervously, “You wouldn’t happen to have any glasses, would you? We couldn’t find any in the chests of clothes but we were wearing them in the photo we saw.”

“As a matter of fact I do,” She said, walking over to pull a pair of Clubmasters from behind each of Peter's ears much to his joy.

“Oh come on! Any street performer can do that for a nickel!” Tony whined.

“Well then aren’t you lucky you just saved ten cents? Now I just need to peer into your mind for a moment, more of a glance really. Clear your mind and bring the memory of Camp Lehigh to the front of your thoughts and that’s all I’ll see. Are you ready?” At Tony’s nod, she lifted her right pointer finger to his third eye as a shiver ran down his spine before breaking contact, “Hmmm that’s a very interesting memory you have of being there with your friend… Steven was it?”

“That bastard isn’t his friend!” Peter spat, shocking the adults in the room.

 _“Yikes,”_ Harley said in response, he could see Tony looking confused and Nat intrigued.

“Okay… we’re talking about this later bambino. Did you get everything you needed Gandalf?” Tony asked The Ancient One.

“For now,” She smiled, snapping her finger as a portal shimmered into existence.

“Sick, you’ve got to teach me how to do that!” Harley said excitedly, peering through to see the other side of the portal was in an empty storage room.

“I remember when you used to get that excited for me to teach you things,” Tony sighed as Harley rolled his eyes, “Come on then team, let’s go eat some chicken liver aspic and breathe in second-hand smoke. Romanoff, do you still have that thumb drive you swiped when you thought none of us were looking?”

“She does Mr. Stark, it’s in her hair,” Peter answered as Nat feigned innocence.

“Why Doctor Richards, have you been keeping your eyes on me?” Nat asked flirtatiously.

“Jesus Christ, remind me not to introduce you to Reyes,” Harley was sure their combined forces could dwarf Chernobyl in terms of power and devastation.

“And we’re leaving,” Tony reminded as he ushered everyone towards the portal, “Thank you Gandalf!” He called out as he stepped through last.

"I've always thought of myself as more of an elf than a wizard," The Ancient One said to herself as the portal dissipated.

**Camp Lehigh**   
**Wheaton, New Jersey**

Peter could hear music and laughter the moment he stepped foot in the storage room, as they made their way out into the corridor they followed the noise until they came to a large meeting room that had been repurposed for the event. There were people strewn about engaged in conversation as they drank and picked at Hors d'oeuvres. Decorative mini astronauts and streamers littered the room as cigarette smoke lingered in the air.

"Alright children, mingle with the masses while Rushman and I look around," Tony whispered before adding, "No Russian nicknames, wouldn't go over well in the current climate."

"Would you like your photo taken?" A familiar voice asked.

"Well I'll be dammed," Tony said softly, recognizing the same lady he ran into on the elevator with Steve in the seventies.

"I'm sorry?"

"Ah yes, please! That would be great," Tony smiled as he pulled his boys closer, "Smile boys."

The flash was blinding enough to leave spots in Peter's vision.

"Be good boys, I'll be back soon," Tony said, patting them both on the back as he left with Nat.

"Come on Pietro, let's get a drink," Harley winked as he made his way over to the bar.

"Erm, should we really?"

"Yaaaasss, treat yo self! Besides, Dad said to mingle."

"Okay yaaaaas," Peter giggled, being so far in the past felt somehow freeing, as if they didn't have to monitor themselves so much since they weren't going to be here for long.

"What can I get for you two?" The barman asked over the sound of the band playing in the background.

"Two Long Islands please sir," Harley asked, voice laced with charm.

"Two what?"

"Long Island Iced Teas?"

"Is that some kind of new drink from the city?" The barman asked, confused.

"Uh yes, it is. Vodka, gin, triple sec, rum, tequila, syrup, lemon and a splash of coke in a highball with ice please." Harley ordered as the barman looked concerned.

"Are you boys sailors?"

"We're Italian, and it tastes better than it sounds," Harley replied, which seemed to be enough for the barman as he shrugged and started mixing the drinks.

"Mi scusi," A lady with warm blonde hair in a soft cream dress said to the boys as she stepped up to the bar.

"Sì?" Peter and Harley answered together as they turned to face her.

"Parli Italiano?" She asked.

"Proprio quello che ci ha insegnato nostro padre," Harley said as her face broke out into a smile, "I'm Javier and this is my brother Pietro, a pleasure to meet you ma'am."

"How do you do? I'm Maria, is your father here? I might know him."

"He should be around here somewhere, Ernesto Stark. He's doing some work on the computers they're installing." Maria's eyes went wide.

"Nesto Stark is your father?"

"Do you know him?" Peter asked.

"We're related, I'm married to Howard."

The boy's faces looked like fish out of water.

"Two large drinks with vodka, gin, triple sec, rum, tequila, syrup, lemon and a splash of coke, _or Long Islands if that's what you want to call them_." The barman announced as he placed the drinks on the bar.

"Well you certainly know how to drink like Starks," Maria laughed, "I'll have one too please."

******

“You seem to know where you’re going,” Tony commented as Nat led the way to what should be the server room.

“Stick around, you might learn something,” Nat teased as she picked the lock on the door.

“Funny,” Tony said taking a look around, “So what exactly is the plan here? Plant Bagpipe’s back door program into what will eventually become the backbone of Shield’s mainframe?”

“They don’t call you a genius for nothing,” Nat winked.

“You forgot _billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist,_ ” Tony finished as Nat looked unimpressed, “I do have to ask though, how are you going to manage that? The floppy disk won’t be invented for another two years, what do you think you’re going to be able to plug your thumb drive into?”

Nat’s eyes went wide as she turned to the data banks to find them bare of anything resembling a USB Port.

“I mean if you thought about it you would’ve figured out it wasn’t going to work, otherwise the backdoor program would’ve already been there in Zola’s coding in the future like Gandalf’s note.”

“Pizdets,” Nat swore in realization.

“Lucky for you there just so happens to be said genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist in the room who can write a new back door program on the fly and hide it on the data tapes. Feel free to start fawning whenever you’re ready.”

“Don’t make me shock you,” Nat said, holding out one of her Widow Bites.

“Electroshock therapy? _Kinky_ ,” Tony ripped the outer covering off one of the DDP-116’s, pulling cords out and repositioning them before removing the analog data disks, “I feel like I’m in the stone age,” he said pulling out reels of tape and holding it up to the light, squinting before tearing off sections and taping them back together in different orders.

“You knew the thumb drive wasn’t going to work.”

“Looks like I’m not the only genius in the room,” Tony sassed.

“If you knew it wasn’t going to work then why did you ask me if I still had it before we came?” Nat pressed.

“To make sure you knew that not a lot gets past me... or my boys.”

“So I noticed,” Nat watched, interested as Tony began working his way through the data banks.

“Then why did you ask?” Tony smiled.

“Same reason you did,” Nat shrugged as she moved over to one of the DDP-116’s Tony hadn’t gotten to yet, rearranging the cords into the right spots and splicing the data tapes.

“Are you trying to impress me into letting my guard down?” Tony asked, amused.

“That depends… is it working?”

“If I say yes will you keep doing it?”

“Yes,”

“Then yes, I’m impressed and my guard is officially down,” Tony answered as Nat rolled her eyes.

Working together like this reminded Tony so vividly of when they were planning the Time Heist, lying on the tables and floors of the conference room in the compound sharing peanut butter sandwiches and banter until the early hours of the morning. He was suddenly hit with the memory of her death, something he never really had time to process considering how quickly his death followed hers.

“I’m about done here, what’s your side looking like?” Nat called out as Tony wiped a tear that threatened to spill down his cheek.

“Ready to rock ’n’ roll, once we get back I’ll be able to point out the Zero Days to Braveheart who should be able to exploit them to hack into Zola,” Tony said as he knocked the outer coverings of the computers back into place.

“Zero Days?” Nat asked as she straightened her dress.

“The gaps in the programming we just created, you should be able to use them to burrow a path into the central code once it’s been written,” Tony explained as they made their way back to the party, re-locking the door behind them.

******

“I’ve never seen an agent wear a uniform that well before,” Harley smiled as he leaned against the wall next to a boy that couldn’t have been that older than he was.

“Sorry?” The boy answered, his voice going high. He had wavy dark brown hair and a fair complexion that started to flush.

“I’ve always had a thing for men in uniform,” Harley flirted shamelessly.

“Uh-well-thanks, I mean, I’m only a junior agent and it’s a standard issue uniform,” The junior agent stuttered, flustered at the attention being given to him.

As Tony walked into the room with Nat he noticed more people had joined the party. Drinks were being clinked in the midst of lively conversation and there was a group of people in a conga line dancing to Soul Bossa Nova.

Tony rolled his eyes as he noticed Harley getting close to one of the agents at the end of the room.

“Here you go darlin’,” Harley said as he held his lighter out, “Pretty boys don’t light their own cigarettes.”

“Play time’s over Casanova,” Tony joked as he walked in on the conversation before noticing the now panicked look on the agent's face, “And I thought I was shameless.”

“Like father like son,” Harley said as he winked at the agent.

“If I see a cigarette in your mouth I’m scaring off your next five boyfriends, starting with this one.”

“You smoked when you were my age!” Harley defended.

“And now I have a massive hole in my chest, learn from my mistakes,” Tony scolded, “Where’s your brother?”

Harley raised his eyebrow and nodded towards the conga line, at the front, leading the way was Peter dancing as if he was in an Austin Powers movie.

 _“Of course,”_ Tony sighed before making his way over, “Nat watch my kid, I’ll be back in a second.”

Peter had a wide smile on his face and his eyes lit up when he saw Tony, “Dad!” He called out as he broke from the conga line.

“Hey bambino, having fun?”

“Nesto Stark, you look incredible!”

Tony felt like he had been punched in the gut as he noticed his mother had left the line as well from behind Peter, “Maria?”

“Have you had work done? You look so much younger than the last time I saw you.” Maria laughed as she moved forward to kiss his cheeks.

“Speak for yourself, you look radiant as ever,” Tony smiled as his mind caught up, reaching forward to hug her, “It’s so good to see you.”

“Group hug!” Peter called out as he latched on, Tony could smell the alcohol on his breath now that he was closer.

“Have you been drinking bambino?” Tony pulled back and noticed how flushed Peter’s face was.

“Just a little,” Peter answered sheepishly.

“Look at you, ever the concerned father,” Maria smiled, “You must be proud of your sons, they’re very charming young men.”

“You have no idea,” Tony said fondly as the song changed and people started to break into couples.

**_*Sherry, Sherry baby. Sherry, can you come out tonight?*_ **

“Oh I love Frankie Valli and The Four Season’s,” Maria said excitedly, “Dance with me Nesto?”

Nat cleared her throat from behind Tony, “I’ll be back in a second he said.”

“Maria this is Natalie, we work together. Nat, Maria, my second cousin,” Tony introduced, “I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on my other son?”

“I don’t think he’ll be moving from where he is anytime soon,” Nat replied as Tony looked over to find Harley lip-locked in a corner with the junior agent.

“Good for him, hopefully he’ll be less sassy on the way home,” Tony snorted.

“It’s nice to meet you, are you two together?” Maria asked, curious.

“No,” Tony jumped in, “Just good friends.”

“Perfect, let’s dance Nesto,” Maria said as she took Tony by the hand.

“I guess that leaves you with me,” Nat smirked, moving closer to Peter and putting a hand on his shoulder as they started to dance, “Is this something that happens a lot for you three? Magic and time travel?”

Peter tried to clear his mind before he spoke, “We like to keep things interesting.”

“Care to tell me about some of the other adventures you boys have been on?”

“Karaoke and road trips mainly,” Peter replied as they swayed in time to the music.

“To anywhere exciting?” Nat tried, curious to see how Peter would answer.

“To the east coast mainly, although there is somewhere I’ve been wanting to go,” Nat didn’t like the look that slipped onto Peter's face, “I’ve been thinking of checking out Missouri, you wouldn’t happen to know anywhere nice there, would you? I hear they have pretty cool farmhouses.”

Nat could feel her blood run cold as Peter looked unfazed, there should’ve been no way anyone outside of the Barton’s, Fury or herself could’ve know about the Barton homestead, “I have family down there, I’ll have to ask them if they know anywhere.”

“Thank you, Nat, that means a lot,” Peter’s reply was laced with a deeper meaning, he was thanking Nat for trusting him enough to share that information freely. Sure, she had to have known he knew about the Barton’s but it was a stepping stone for now. “Family means a lot to us as well, I would do anything for my brother or dad.”

“Why do you call Tony Mr. Stark to his face but to everyone else you call him dad?”

“It’s more of a nickname that kinda stuck, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it one day.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Nat smiled as the song ended.

“I guess it’s time we head off,” Tony said as Peter went over to grab Harley.

“Oh so soon?” Maria asked, disappointed.

“Unfortunately. We have a flight back to Italy we have to make.”

“It was so lovely to see you again Nesto, and to meet your sons! Heart-breakers in the making I’m sure.” Maria smiled as they exchanged hugs.

“Please make sure you give my love to Howard,” Tony said, holding onto his mother and savoring the feeling.

“Of course darling, I’m sure we’ll see you again soon," Maria said in surprise, "It was nice to meet you too Nat,” suddenly she was engulfed on both sides by Harley and Peter.

“Byyyyyyyye,”

“We’ll miss you,”

“I’ll miss you too boys, don’t be strangers,” Maria laughed as they let go to leave.

******

“So boys, what did you think of Nonna?” Tony asked as they stepped through the portal back to Kamar-Taj.

“She’s great, I love her!” Peter said enthusiastically.

“She’s pretty awesome, I’m glad we got to meet her,” Harley added.

“Ah, good, you’re back,” The Ancient One greeted from the chair she was reading in, “Well, hop to it then, the sooner you get back to the future the sooner the flow of the time stream goes back to its correct current,” She explained, handing the fob watch over to Harley, “There are a few things though, once you get back I don’t think you’ll be able to use the Fob Watch again, the Aesir didn’t craft it for what you’ve used it for and it’s mechanism will most likely be corrupted after your return.”

“Trust me when I say that won’t be a problem, we’re just fine in our own time,” Tony shrugged.

“But in the future, you said Nat’s adventures in time had only just begun,” Harley pointed out to be met with a blank look and a condescending smile.

“You’ll also be able to arrive in any destination you want Evan, the other thing is I’m not too sure how much time would’ve passed in the future, it can be a bit of hit or miss when you’re traveling this far, nothing more than a day a day or two... probably,”

If they had been gone for any longer than a day Tony was a dead man where Pepper was concerned.

“Thank you Ancient One,” Harley bowed as the others gathered around him.

“You’re welcome, and a word to the wise, it hurts less if you hold your breath.”

The feeling of electricity and static started to fill the air again, Harley could almost taste it in his mouth.

“Catch you on the flip side Dumbledore,” Tony called out as they flashed out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I’ll be updating next.
> 
> I’m sorry.
> 
> Love me <3


	14. And Their Code Phrases Could Use Some Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enough time travel and obscure references to make your head spin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I had to describe this chapter in two words: hot mess.

**Upstate New York 2023**   
**Avengers Facility Ruins**

Tony could feel his body thrumming as Cull Obsidian punched him to the ground before Scott flattened him with his foot.

“Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on!” Peter said as he helped Tony up, oblivious to the look on his face, “Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, Because I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, ‘It's been five years. Come on, they need us.’ And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time–“

“He did? Oh, God,” Tony let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding before he stumbled forward, arms open.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked in confusion, Tony pulling him into a hug before he realized what was happening, “Oh, this is nice.”

The battle raged on as the Avengers defended the earth with might that rivaled the Titan’s own.

Scott and Hope shared a look as they shrunk, Hope flying them to the van to secure the only other quantum tunnel.

Doctor Strange trapped a group of Chitauri fighters with his magic, sending them through a portal as Tony joined him, “Hey. You said one out of 14 million we win, yeah? Tell me this is it.”

******

Tony groaned from the spot on the floor where he landed, looking around to realize he was the only one that wasn’t standing up. Stupid wizards and their stupid wizard ways.

“Get up Stark, quickly,” Nat said, concerned as she reached down to pull him to his feet. Tony could hear the edge in her voice, something was wrong.

“Where are we?” Tony asked, standing up to catch his bearings, vision still blurry.

“I think- I think we’re at,” Peter said in disbelief, looking around in shock.

“The lake house,” Harley finished, staring at the fireplace, too distracted to notice the fob watch had broken.

The mantle was covered in framed photos but they weren’t how Harley remembered them, Peter and he were in nearly every single one along with Tony. Their ages varied so much that Harley could barely recognize himself in the more recent ones but in every photo, they all looked so happy. There were even some of the whole team, the original six – all laughing and smiling. The weirdest photos were the ones where there were two sets of Peters and Harleys, that was when he noticed the same school pictures he remembered from his own time, as well as graduation and birthday photos he had no memories of. There was one framed image in particular though that stood out though, Tony with his arms wrapped around someone as they lent in for a kiss.

“Nobody look at the mantle!” Harley called out as his hands started to move, by the time the others rushed forward to see all they caught sight of was the last photo of Tony, Harley, and Peter in the center as it faded away into disillusionment, leaving the mantle bare.

“Hey! How come you got to see? That’s not fair!” Peter pointed out as Harley rolled his eyes.

“I’m with him on this one kid, what gives?” Tony asked, surprised and a little hurt that Harley was keeping something from them.

“Something that could change the course of this future's pre-established history if we let it influence our decisions. It’s bad enough that I already know about it, adding you three to the mix would make it worse.”

“Like what Doctor Strange said to you at the Battle of Upstate,” Peter grasped, turning towards Tony.

“If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen,” Tony said, suddenly pulled back to that moment for a brief second, “Were they at least happy photos patatino?” Tony asked hopefully.

Harley reached out to grab his hand in comfort, “The happiest, I promise,” he said smiling, “I mean, how couldn’t they be? When you have such an amazing, handsome, caring son?”

“You make me want to hit you sometimes, you know that right?” Tony deadpanned as Harley grinned in return.

The Lake House  
Doctor Strange  
The Battle of Upstate

Nat’s mind was running a mile a minute, adding to the report she had compiled in her head so far.

“Where are we?”

“Our family lake house,” Peter answered.

“Fri? Are you there?” Tony called out.

“I’m afraid not sir, Friday now mainly runs the compound and everything that entails it,” Jarvis answered.

“Jay? Is that really you?” Tony asked softly, a part of him unsure that his future could be this good.

“Indeed sir, hello young sirs and Miss Romanoff.”

“Hi Jarvis,” Peter smiled.

“Jarvis, what year is it?” Harley asked, judging from their appearance in the photos it had to be at least eight to ten years in the future. He knew Tony didn’t build the Lake House until well after The Snap in the original timeline but he had a feeling this timeline had changed, Jarvis was proof of that.

“May second, 2018 Master Evan.”

‘May second, 2018,’ Tony thought, ‘Twenty days before The Snap was supposed to happen.’

“Jarvis, where are we? Our current selves I mean,” Harley carried on, noticing the look of dread on Tony’s face.

“Miss Romanoff is currently in Wakanda, overseeing the completion of SAFE’s Command Deck, while Sir is Off-World, preparing de Luna Base with Colonel Rhodes.”

“Safe? Off-World? Where are Reilly and I? And where is de Luna-“ Harley was cut off as he heard a car pull up to the house, his head snapping towards the window.

“Lila, what do you feel like for lunch? Your Mom won’t be here until around dinner with the boys and the Langs are coming tomorrow.” Peter felt his skin prickle at the sound of the voice coming from outside.

“Can we have hotdogs? But with mustard and no mayo?” Lila said as she walked up the steps of the porch.

“Who has mayo on a hotdog?” Another voice asked as Harley made out two figures grabbing grocery bags from the trunk when the front door opened.

“Don’t ask. Sometimes I think my brothers were- Aunt Nat!”

Nat for her part didn’t seem too shocked to be engulfed by a teenager, “Lila?”

“What happened to your hair? Why is it red again? I love it but I miss the blonde, aren’t you supposed to be in Wakanda, is dad here too? Why are you dressed like that?” Lila asked in rapid-fire before she noticed the other people in the room.

“Uncle Tony? I thought you were supposed to be on the moon with Dad? And what are Peter and Harley doing here?” Lila said turning towards Peter, “You said you didn’t finish school until next week?”

“That’s not Pete or Harl, Ly,” an older version of Peter said as he walked into the room, his hair was longer than the current Peter had ever grown it, with soft curls waved through it in that ‘model who just woke up’ look, the back nearly touching his shoulders.

“Bambino?” Tony asked in awe, as future Peter walked over to envelop him in a hug.

“Hi Dad,” future Peter said as Tony started to cry.

“Hi. I- I’m sorry, I just never thought I would get to see you be this old,” Tony said as he wiped his eyes with his 1960's pocket square, reaching out to touch the side of future Peter's face.

“Welp, I guess I’ll just go and fuck myself then shall I?” the older version of Harley said as he leaned against the archway frame, he had bulked out a bit and seemed to know how good he looked standing there in a pair of glasses with a chocolate brown polo tucked into glen plaid pants and a smile on his lips.

Tony could only laugh as future Harley jumped across the room to bury himself into his chest.

“Hey Dad,” future Harley said, pulling back to wink which only caused Tony to laugh harder.

“I’m confused,” Lila said, turning towards Nat.

“You and me both kid, who are Peter and Harley?” Nat asked as Lila looked at her funny.

“Evan and Reilly’s younger brothers? You’re not my Aunt Nat, are you?” Lila said taking a step back.

“I am… I think. It’s just the last time I saw you, you were barely past my knees.”

“Oh, you’re all from the past,” Lila said as the look on her face started to clear.

“Is time travel a thing that happens a lot in the future?”

Lila could only shrug her shoulders, “Uncle Tony likes to keep things interesting,” much to Nat’s frustration. “Hey Aunt Nat, what year are you from?”

“2008, why?” Nat asked, Lila’s eyes going wide.

“Do you think you could somehow change it so Mom and Dad end up having a girl instead of another boy?”

“Lila!” future Harley said disapprovingly from the other side of the room.

“So you guys are really us?” Harley said as he moved closer to their future counterparts.

Future Peter looked current Peter in the eye and spoke, “If I were to say to you, I am a stranger traveling from the East, seeking that which is lost,”

“Then I would reply that I am a stranger traveling from the West. It is I whom you seek,” Peter said in awe, placing his hand up to touch his future self’s palm.

Harley, however, was not as easily convinced, Peter’s code phrases were always too easy in his opinion. He did notice that both he and his counterpart rolled their eyes at the exact same time in the exact same way. Weird.

Both Harleys cleared their throats as the younger one started.

“937-0176 CE”

“Janeway-8-4-1-Alpha-6-5”

“Janeway-Pi-1-1-0”

“Omega-4-7”

“Acid Pops”

“Cockroach Cluster”

“Caput Draconis”

“Fortuna Major”

“Vas happenin?”

“Kevin the pigeon”

“I like girls who eat carrots”

“And I’m Jennifer”

“Hotel?”

“Trivago”

“Huh,” Harley said, looking his counterpart up and down whistling, “Not gunna lie, I look good,”

“And don’t you forget it beautiful,” future Harley grinned as everyone else just looked at each other.

“What the fuck was that,” Tony whispered to the Peters.

“Meme Queens,” Lila teased, sitting down on one of the couches and pulling her phone out.

“Not to be rude, and Barton Junior please don’t think I would ever not want you here,”

“I know Uncle Tony,” Lila said without looking up from her phone as Tony turned towards his future sons.

“But why are the Barton’s and the Lang’s staying at the lake house?”

“We’re using it as a safe house, it was your idea. Laura, Maggie, and Paxton should be able to keep the kids safe while Jarvis watches over the situation,” future Harley explained.

“Ah,” was all Tony could say in response.

“Why do we need a safehouse and what’s the situation?” Nat asked as the future boys both answered.

“Spoilers.”

“I hope you have a way of getting us back,” Harley said, finally noticing that the fob watch had been cracked into pieces.

“Course we do, the Quantum Tunnel,” future Harley answered.

“There’s one at the compound?” Tony guessed, unsure how he felt about the fact that he builds it again in this future.

“Nah, it’s on the lower levels here. Ry will show you how to get home while I watch Lila and get lunch ready,” future Harley corrected.

“Hey!” Lila called out from the couch, “I wanna see the time machine.”

“Sorry kid, you’re not authorized down there without your parents unless Jay deems it to be an emergency, besides you can help me the hotdogs.”

“Laaaaaaame, but fine,” Lila agreed as she got up to give Nat and Tony a hug before heading to the kitchen.

“Bye Dad, I love you,” future Harley said as he wrapped his arms around Tony in a tight tug before letting go, “Bye boys, try not to get into too much trouble and Evan you need to start working out if you want to look this good in the future,” he said laughing as future Peter hit him on the shoulder, “Bye Aunt Nat, love you too. Now Lila, what are your thoughts on stuffing the hotdogs with cheese?” future Harley’s voice trailed off as he walked into the kitchen.

“Aunt Nat?” Harley looked at Nat as future Peter smiled.

“Alright guys, lets head down to the sub-levels,” future Peter said walking towards a wall of wood paneling.

“Since when did the Lake House have sub-levels?” Harley asked, curious.

“2012, the three of us built them together,” future Peter answered as he pushed part of the wall in, causing it to slide out of sight, revealing an elevator.

“Woah, this is so cool!” Peter said excitedly as they entered the elevator and the wall slid back into place.

A blue light suddenly swept over their bodies as Jarvis spoke,

“Anthony Edward Stark, access all areas”

“Reilly Benjamin Richard Stark, access all areas”

“Evan Davidson Edwards, access all areas”

“Reilly Benjamin Richards, access all areas”

“Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, access all areas”

Nat’s eyebrow raised as the elevator started to descend, surprised that no else seemed to be surprised that she was granted full access to what she assumed would be some kind of high tech secret lab.

“So there’s a moon base now?” Tony tried, only to be met with an “Mmmmmhm.”

“When did I change my last name?” Peter asked as they came to a stop and the doors opened.

“Pretty soon from your perspective, less than a year I think, once we’re both publicly announced as heirs.”

“Oooo are we famous in the future?” Peter asked.

“Kinda,” future Peter said as he led the way, walking through the lab that looked more like a mechanics garage until they reached a platform identical to the one Steve used to put the stones back.

“Where are the suits?” Tony asked as future Peter pointed towards a row of lockers as his fingers danced across the Quantum interface panel when suddenly a screen lit up, showing Raven, only older.

“Yo Richards, Daddy Stark wants to know what you’re doing in the lab with his super-secret time machine,” It looked like Raven was on the bridge or command center of something, there were display panels in the background with people walking from station to station and through massive windows Harley could make out stars in space.

“Is that Raven?” Peter said moving closer to the monitor.

“Unholy Satan, don’t tell me she’s still around annoying me ten years into the future,” Harley groaned.

“Huh? Future? What are Peter and Harley doing there? I thought they still had school until next week,”

“It’s not Peter and Harley Rey, it’s me and Evan from 2008,” future Peter explained as he tapped away, entering the destination coordinates while Tony came over with the bracelets that housed the suits.

“It's Evan and I, Reilly. What have you and Edwards been up to? Tampering with the timeline? I thought that wasn’t allowed?”

“It isn’t and we’re not, just remind Dad what the date is and tell him I’m helping some friends get home,”

“Aye aye, Capitano,” Raven sassed, saluting and cutting the call.

“Let’s suit up,” Tony said as everyone took a bracelet, the three of them activating their suites straight away as they wrapped around their bodies.

Nat managed to figure it out pretty quickly after them as future Peter came up to hug everyone in turn.

“Bye Aunt Nat, love you.”

“Bye past me, look after your brother.”

“Bye Evan, look after our Dad.”

“Bye Dad, I love you so much,” future Peter said holding onto Tony for as long as possible.

“I love you too son, never forget how proud I am of you bambino,” Tony answered as they let go.

“Alright, on the platform and helmets up,” future Peter instructed as he aligned the reflectors and the tunnel started to form, “Jumping in three, two, one!” he called out as they were all shrunk down to the quantum level.

**DC 2008**   
**The Triskelion**

Agent Fitz could feel his brain turning to mush, he had stayed up through the night trying to find his backdoor program inside Shields database by combing through it byte by byte. As far as he could tell, it wasn’t there, which meant whatever Romanoff was trying to do didn’t work.

A flash of light covered the room that left black spots in Fitz’s vision. When it cleared he could make out four figures wearing some kind of red and while motorcycle suits with helmets on.

“Uhhhh, Agent Coulson? Agent Coulson! I have a situation!” Fitz called out as the figures tapped a spot on their wrists and the suits retracted to reveal Tony, Harley, Peter, and Nat.

“And that’s how time travel's done, no weird static thing, no nausea, no groaning from the fetal position on the ground,” Tony sassed as Harley rolled his eyes.

“My ways more rock ‘n’ roll you poser,” Harley snarked.

“My ways more rock ‘n’ roll you poser,” Tony repeated in a higher pitch.

“Ah good, you’re back,” Phil said as he entered the room with Hill and Fury.

“Did you miss me, Agent?” Tony asked as he walked over to the terminal at the front of the room.

“Stark!” Fury yelled, “You better have some good news for me!”

“I’m sorry, did I miss the part where I’m supposed to be working for you, Captain Hook? The magic word is please.”

“We’re you able to plant the backdoor program, Romanoff?” Maria asked as she sat down.

“Was she able to upload something to a data bank in the ’60s with a thumb drive?” Tony answered, “No.”

“So the mission was a failure?” Phil replied.

“Now, now, I didn’t say that either. Reilly had a great time dancing at the Gemini celebration and Evan got a kiss from a boy! All in all a success in my eyes,”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Hill said in frustration, “He is kidding right?” She asked, looking towards Nat.

“No, I couldn’t connect the thumb drive and Starks children couldn’t control themselves after a couple of drinks.”

“Rude!” Harley called out as he and Peter walked towards the terminal, paying attention to what Tony was doing.

“Oh, I see what you did there,” Peter said as he started tapping away before Harley joined in.

“It’s a bit chop shop, but not bad for something on the fly,” Harley added as Tony scoffed.

“What are they doing?” Hill asked.

“Stark and I managed to splice sections of the analog tapes in the data banks to create gaps in Zola’s programming that we can use to gain control,” Nat explained as Fitz looked impressed.

Harley: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster,”

Peter: “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss,”

Tony: “The abyss will gaze back into you. Really boys? Nietzsche? Is that what they’re teaching at MIT these days? I want my money back.”

“He was the Plato of his time!” Harley defended.

“We all know he was a Seneca at best, not to mention he went crazy in his forties,” Tony pointed out as the display screen started to beep, “And we’re in, all your's Bagpipes.”

“Boys say bye to Aunty Nat and her friends, Evan do you think you could portal us home? What time is it anyway? I need a nap.”

"Since when do you nap?" Harley asked in surprise.

“It’s noon,” Peter yawned, checking his phone, “Bye Aunt Nat, bye Aunt Nat’s friends.”

“Ciao Aunt Nat, ciao evil secret shadow organization,” Harley added as he started to circle his sling rings.

“Oh before I forget,” Tony remembered, moving towards Nat, “Romanoff you can keep the suit,” he said, fiddling with the bracelet, “I’ve even made it black for you. Okay, goodbye village people, thank you for being here today,” he finished with a royal wave, stepping through the portal before it closed.

“Romanoff I want a full mission report, now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did he manage to reference The Mummy, Star Trek Voyager, Harry Potter, One Direction and The Princess Diaries all in the one chapter? Yes.
> 
> Does he regret it?  
> Yes.
> 
> I hope this chapter makes you smile as much as I did writting it.  
> We all need a little bit of pointless filler fluff in our lives right now.
> 
> PS I'm trying new BPD meds so the hope is the writting schedule goes back to being atleast weekly.
> 
> XO


	15. And Now We Don’t Have Enough Time To Unpack All Of That Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some emotional flash backs/forwards, withheld information and an assessment is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two weeks?
> 
> I don’t want to jinx it but he’s feeling optimistic as hell about getting back into the swing of things.
> 
> Tried to make sure this chapter was a longer one.
> 
> X

Peter hit the floor, MJ’s screams still echoing in his head.

“I don’t think you know what’s real Peter,”

Building started to whizz past Peter’s vision, one coming into view with a neon “Queens” sign above it. Mysterio’s fist punched through it, sending Peter flying, shattering through the horizon like glass.

“You need to WAKE UP!”

Peter started to fall, crashing on top of a car, he felt broken, looking around, breathing anxiously. He wanted to give up, to lay there in defeat, but he knew Mr. Stark would never. Never give up, never give in.

“I mean, look at yourself,”

Peter could see reflections of himself in shards of glass, reaching out to touch, only for the reflections to come alive, hurling themselves at him and ripping his suit away.

“You’re just a scared little kid in a sweatsuit!”

Peter could Mr. Stark's voice reprimanding him- ‘If you're nothing without the suit then you shouldn't have it.’

“I control the truth! Mysterio is the truth,”

Beck started to fire lasers at him, the ends of the ones he couldn’t dodge grazing his skin. He managed to grab Beck with one of his webs, pulling as hard as he could only for Beck to disappear as a crane came crashing down. At the last second he narrowly avoided it, but not the stone arm that fell on top of him as he screamed.

“If you were good enough,” Looking forward, Peter’s blood turned cold as he read the tombstone of Anthony Edward Stark, _“maybe Tony would still be alive.”_

**Malibu 2008**   
**Stark Beach House**

Sun was shining through the windows as Tony, Harley, and Peter stepped through the portal, making their way to the main living room and throwing themselves onto the lounge.

“So what did we learn boys?” Tony asked, yawning.

“SHIELD are idiots who’ve become complacent in their own self-image,” Harley started.

“Yes, but we already knew that,” Tony grinned.

“The ancient wizard lady is nice, and I don’t think she ages?” Peter tried.

“Oookay, sure, that is something we learned, but not what I was looking for… anything else?”

“Do you mean how we manage to alter the events of the future in this timeline?” Peter answered nonchalantly as Tony realized both boys were smirking.

“I hate you both, do you know that?” Tony huffed, poking both boys in the sides as they smacked his hands away.

“Really? That’s not what you told our future selves Mr. Stark,” Peter pointed out.

“I’m pretty sure you were so happy when you saw us all grown up that you cried Tony,” Harley added as a cushion hit him in the face, “Not the hair!” he whined.

“Don’t make me go Nick Fury on you two and drag this into a 24-hour mission debriefing,” Tony threatened as they rolled their eyes.

“We spend the next ten years getting ready to go up against Thanos and prevent The Snap from happening,” Harley said moving closer to Peter and Tony.

“And what are some of the ways we do it? How much were you listening out for bambino?”

“A lot Mr. Stark, the lake house gets built earlier, and with sub-levels. I scanned everything I could with my implants on the way down, we have bunkers there too, fall-out-level kind of bunkers, not to mention the fact that we have a Quantum Tunnel on standby. We have a pretty close relationship with Aunt Nat who’s in Wakanda building some kind of Command Deck with an organization called SAFE who we either haven’t heard of until this point which I think is unlikely, or they don’t exist yet. There’s also an Off-World base called de Luna, judging by the name and the fact that live communication was possible with Raven it’s most likely on the moon. We know that you and Uncle Rodney are there and that he’s a Colonel. It’s could be joint owned by the Armed Forces, or they have a strong presence there, but Raven being there means it has something to do with Stark Industries.”

“Why would Raven mean the company is there?” Tony asked, curious.

“Because it would be a cold day in hell before Reyes left SI,” Harley laughed.

“Barton’s also there which could mean so are SHIELD or the Avengers in some capacity and I’m sure SI has a stake in it if Raven’s involved. We also must be pretty close with the Barton’s and the Lang’s if they’re going to be at the lake house when Thanos arrives. Lila seemed pretty familiar with us and Peter and Harley if she knew when they were arriving,” Peter finished.

“I’m impressed Reilly,” Harley said beaming.

“Me too bambino, you did really good kid,” Tony said proudly.

“Thanks Mr. Stark, but I left out the two most important parts to see if you noticed,” Peter said excitedly.

“Oh really?” Tony replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Yup,”

“Well don’t leave us hanging in suspense,”

Peter smiled before turning to face Harley.

“You saw something at the lake house, on the mantle. Something big. It must be good if you didn’t want to risk us seeing it, and it has to be something that’s changed from our time otherwise we would already know and seeing it wouldn’t make a difference,”

“I was hoping you forgot that,” Harley said, avoiding eye contact, “You’re right though, on both parts.”

Peter looked pretty satisfied with himself, he knew he wasn’t the best at recon or subterfuge but he was working on it.

“What’s the other thing bambino?” Tony asked, he honestly couldn’t think of anything else he didn’t catch.

“The most important part of all Mr. Stark,” Peter said looking towards the ceiling, “Jarvis is still alive.”

Tony could feel his eyes start to water, reaching over to pull his boys into a hug.

“I hate to ruin the moment,” Harley said as he started to pull back, “But can I borrow a car please Tony?”

“A car? What do you need a car for?” Tony asked in surprise.

“I need to get back to the office, I’m already feeling a little guilty for leaving Pepper in San Fran yesterday, I want to make sure she knows that she can rely on me to do my job properly,” Harley said self-consciously.

“Are you sure kiddo, aren’t you tired?”

“Yeah, but I don’t really want to spend the day sleeping then be up all night either.”

“I’m proud of you kid,” Tony said smiling, “And of course you can borrow a car, you don’t need to ask. Jarvis will show you where the keys are, won’t you Jay?”

“My pleasure sir.”

“Thanks, Tony, and don’t spend the whole day napping on the couch. I’ll see you both for dinner?” Harley asked as he turned towards the garage.

“Seven tonight, don’t be late, love you!” Tony called out.

“I won’t! Love you too!”

“I don’t get it,” Tony said turning towards Peter.

“Don’t get what Mr. Stark?”

“Why doesn’t he just portal to work? Wouldn’t that be easier than driving all the way there?”

“I guess, but Evan’s really careful with using his powers. He tries to do things the normal way when he can, says it keeps him humble.” Peter explained as Tony looked skeptical.

“What do you think?”

“In a way I think it’s the truth. I know it has something to do with a student at Strange Academy, Calvin.”

“Strange Academy?” Tony scoffed.

“After the blip, the world changed pretty dramatically and Doctor Strange decided to do something each sorcerer supreme had avoided since the Salem Witch Trials in the 1700s, re-establish an Academy for the Mystic Arts.”  
  
“Sounds dramatic all right, what does this Calvin kid have to do with it?”

“Doctor Strange introduced himself to Evan at your wake, said he saw potential in him to become a great sorcerer. By the time Doctor Strange opened the Academy in ‘24 he had taught Evan pretty much everything he knew, and it made him overconfident. Calvin was one of the first students Evan had, I’m pretty sure he reminded him a lot of himself. Calvin was a bit of a nerd like us, not too many friends and he had a pretty rough life growing up, he always said getting into the Academy was the best thing that happened to him.”

“What happened?”

“I’ve never really been sure, a group of right extremists had made anonymous threats to the school, letters and phone calls mainly. Evan had been planning a field trip to Stark Tower, wanted to show them that being different wasn’t something to be ashamed of, or kept hidden. He loved to encourage his students to practice magic in public, help it to gain normality, let themselves be seen for who they really were.”  
  
Tony had no idea what his sons had been through, or what made them into the men they were today, but he had never been prouder or loved them more, and he knew that he would feel the same way every day there was still blood in his veins.

“It’s only a forty-minute walk from the Sanctum to Stark Tower, but it made it easier for the extremists to target the students when they were using their powers so publicly. I don’t know the specifics but when they attacked Calvin was killed and Evan blamed himself. He was only fourteen, his life had already been so hard and it was just starting to get better. Evan resigned pretty soon after that when Pepper and Morgan died but he stopped using his magic in public unless it was for an emergency.”

“Do you think he’ll ever feel free enough to go back to how he used to be?” Tony asked, heart-broken for his eldest son.

“I think that’s something you need to ask him yourself, Mr. Stark,”

“I think you’re right bambino, when did you get so wise?” Tony said, ruffling Peter’s hair proudly. “All right, what do you say to spending the day watching movies on the couch?”

**The Triskelion  
DC**

“Agent Fitz, do we have control of Zola, or do I need to count my losses and ask Hydra for an application?” Fury asked impatiently, sweat dripping from Fitz’s brow as his eyes flit between lines of code on the screen.

“I wouldn’t start practicing your heil just yet sir,”

“Was that a joke Agent? You make jokes now? Hill!” Fury barked, “Could you please tell the young Agent here what I think of jokes?”

“He hates them,” Maria said seriously as Fitz audibly gulped.

“I-uh, well, you see- see the thing is,” Fitz stuttered before the terminal started to beep aggressively.

“Have we been detected Agent Fitz?” Phil asked as he and Maria stood up from the table.

“Eingabebefehl,” the voice of Zola rung out through the speakers.

“No, uh the opposite actually, we have full control.”

“Input command,” Zola repeated, this time in English.

“I may not be a god-fearing man but halle-fucking-lujah, I want every branch of this demented computer game rooted out, and the moment we have a complete list of compromised agents, we strike. No one is brought in on this until we’ve checked extensively that they’re on our side. Agent Fitz, you may well just live to see another day, do not waste it by telling me another joke.”

“Uh-yes sir! I mean! No sir- I won’t, I mean I won’t waste it telling you another joke!” Fitz said nervously as his ears went red.

“I sincerely hope not, Hill, I’m leaving this with you. Coulson, with me.” Nick said as stalked out of the room.

“Is he always like that?” Fitz asked as Maria stood next to him at the terminal.

“Like what Agent?” Maria said sternly.

“Nevermind!” Fitz squeaked as he turned back to the interface.  
  
Maria smiled as she reached forward to pat Fitz on the back, “Fury may not like jokes, but I do Agent Fitz, you did good work today.”

******

“Do you really think it’s still a viable option sir? We haven't even confirmed how he managed to escape capture,” Phil asked Fury as they made their way to the high-security interrogation rooms, the ones that only a handful of SHIELD’s highest-level agents knew about.

“It has to be Coulson, if the ’90s taught us anything it’s that there’s more out there than we know and that we’re not ready for it. The Earth needs a response team.”

“I agree with you sir, but do you really think there’s still a possibility that Stark could be a part of that team?”

“After this, I’m hoping we’ll know one way or another,” Fury said as he opened the door to interrogation room five.

**Stark Industries Headquarters  
LA**

“Can you hear me Jarvis?” Harley asked as he slid a Bluetooth headset on, walking through the SI parking lot.

“Crystal clear young sir, may I ask why?”

“I’ve downloaded you into my prototype Stark Phone so I always have you close. I hope that’s okay, I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first.”

“On the contrary Master Evan, it brings me great joy to know that you would want to keep me close,”

“Of course, Jarvis, you’re family. I’ll remember to ask next time before I do anything that involves you,” Harley said as he walked through the mezzanine, “Jarvis, do you know where Pepper is?”

“She should be coming- “Jarvis’s voice was cut off as Harley ran into a white lab coat, his headset falling out of his ear.

“Shit I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Harley said, picking up his headset and the other person’s files he had knocked onto the floor.

“It’s alright, it was my fault anyway, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Harley knew that voice, it belonged to none other than “Doctor Quintin Beck, I’m part of the Interface and Design Team,” Beck said, reaching out to shake his hand.

“Doctor Evan Edwards,” Harley answered, seething.

“Are you new? I’m sure I would’ve remembered someone as cute as you,” Beck said, all smiles. It made Harley want to vomit.

“Evan? When did you get here? Is your father here too?” Pepper said a few feet away, walking towards them. Harley had said it once and he’d say it again, Pepper was a gift from the gods.

“Sorry again Dr. Beck,” Harley apologized, handing over the files he had picked up before rushing to meet Pepper in the middle of the foyer, “Hi Aunt Pepper, you’re a lifesaver,”

“You Starks are all the same,” Pepper smiled.

“I only just got in now, I was coming to find you before I ran into Dr. Beck, the guy gives me the creeps. Dad and Reilly are at home on the couch and I don’t think they’ll be getting off it anytime soon, the past twenty-four hours were pretty intense.”

“Yet you came to work?” Pepper trailed off.

“I wanted to apologize for yesterday, I wouldn’t have left unless it was an emergency.”

“You didn’t have to do that Evan but thank you regardless. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Grandpa Howard haunting us from the grave,” Harley said offhandedly as they got into an empty elevator.

“What?” Pepper said in surprise, that was nowhere near what she had been speculating.

“It’s a long story but the short version is that Howard founded a secret shadow organization that Stark Industries has been funding and they’ve run into a bit of strife with their servers that they needed help with and we were the only ones who could fix their access issues.” Half-truths always were Harley’s forte.

“That- that’s not what I was expecting, do you think they’ll need your help again?”

“If they do we’re not going to give it, they’re supposed to function independently, and to be honest they seem to have done more harm than good lately. Dad told them if they don’t manage to turn things around for the better in six months' time we’ll be pulling all funding.”

“What do you think?” Pepper asked as the elevator came to a stop letting them out at the executive level.

“I think that Dad was right, we have to focus on Stark Industries and it’s employees right now. We owe it to our staff that the company regains it’s footing and continues to offer them stability and growth opportunities.” Harley answered as he started scanning through his emails and calendar on his phone. “Did you manage to meet any other potential partners yesterday Aunt Pepper?”

Harley stopped walking when Pepper didn’t answer him, “Aunt Pepper?” he asked again, looking up from his phone to see that she was staring at him with the same look she used to whenever Peter and he would ask to take Morgan for the day.

“What do you think is the most important part of running Stark Industries Evan?” Pepper replied seriously.

“Remembering that our employees and consumers come first, in that order, and that we’re only here because of them,” Harley answered, “Are you ok Aunt Pepper?”

“I’m fine Evan,” Pepper smiled, “It’s just nice to know that there’s someone else looking out for the company. Your father, God love him, and his genius are the main reasons this company has survived for so long, but more often than not, he tends to forget the people we employ and what stable employment means to them.”

“Oh,” Harley replied, unsure of how to feel, “Dad’s privileged, we all know that, but he tries, and now I’ll be here to help keep him humble,”

“Now that I’ll have to see to believe,” Pepper laughed, she could see the earnest in Harley’s demeanor and attitude towards Stark Industries, he was someone she could count on.

**Stark Beach House**   
**Malibu**

The Mummy Returns was playing on the TV while Tony played with Peter’s hair as he laid in his lap.

“Bambino?” Tony asked as Peter hummed in response, “What did you mean when called the good ol’ cap a bastard and said he wasn’t my friend?” He could feel Peter go rigid on the couch.

“Uh- you uh, remembered that huh?” Peter tried as he sat up.

“Yes Reilly, kinda hard not to seeing how angry you seemed,”

“Right,”

“So?”

“So?”

“So… are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Do I have to Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, embarrassed.

“You don’t have to, but I’d like it if you did, please?”

“Uggggghhh! I hate him! I hate him okay? I hate him and his stupid face and his stupid asshole attitude. I hate how selfish he is, I hate his arrogance and I hate his air of self-righteousness. He’s a train wreck of a person and it should’ve been him that died, not you!” Peter huffed out in a rage, “When I saw him at your wake, standing there in the lake house, I wanted to smash his head into the oak walls until he choked on his own blood and then smear his sanctimonious face across my knuckles until he cried,”

“Peter!” Tony said in shock, slipping up, “Steve might have been some of those things sometimes but so was I, we can’t judge people on their worst mistakes, that’s not how it works kiddo,”

“I know Mr. Stark!” Peter yelled, “I know,” he said, broken.

“I’ve never seen you like this before kid, I’m not judging you but you’ve never had this kind of hate for anyone, not the Peter I remember, what happened?”

“You Mr. Stark,” Peter said, eyes starting to water.

“Me? What do you mean Pete?”

“You died,” Peter said, hollowed, “and it all just sort of bubbled over,”

“I’m sorry bambino, the last thing I wanted to do was leave you,” Tony said, reaching over to wrap his arms around Peter.

“I know Mr. Stark, but it’s more than that,” Peter said, sniffing, “He reminds me of the things I hate about myself, the worst parts,”

“Everyone has bad parts bambino, as well as good, it’s part of being human,”

“I know that Mr. Stark!” Peter said in frustration, pushing back “But sometimes it feels like I’m drowning in the bad, I’m not like you or Harley!” Tony was taken back, this was the first time he’d heard Peter call Harley by his real name.

“What do you mean you’re not like us?”

“I’m not confident in myself or sure that I’ll be able to do the right thing like you two are, I’m always afraid I’m going to fail again, that I’ll make mistakes like he did and I won’t be able to save anyone, that I’ll end up like Steve, watching from the sidelines as someone else is forced to kill themselves because I couldn’t step up to the plate. I’m afraid of losing both of you, I’m afraid of being left alone like he was and that it'll turn me into a person I hate. Sometimes I feel like there’s this darker version of myself, lurking below the surface,” Peter folded in on himself, empty.

“Bambino,” Tony started, planning his next words carefully, “Listen to me,” he said, tilting Peters face up by his chin, “You’re my son, and I could never stop loving you, even if you were a cold-blooded killer, there’s no reality where it would matter to me, I promise, but I want you to try and be kinder, kinder to yourself and maybe even a little bit kinder to Steve.”

“I love you Mr. Stark,” Peter said, moving forwards to burrow his face into Tony’s chest.

“I love you too bambino, and thank you for telling me, you're feelings are valid and I hear them," he said, combing his fingers through Peter's hair, "I think that was enough for today though yeah? We’ll talk about everything again tomorrow if you’re up to it? How about for now we can just cuddle on the couch and watch Mummy movies until Evan gets home?”

“Okay dad,” Peter said, eyes heavy.

**The Triskelion  
DC**

The last twenty-four hours had been long, but nothing Nat wasn’t used to. She had just finished putting her report together as the door for Interrogation Room Five swung open.

“Hey boys, come here often?” Nat smirked as Nick and Phil entered the room.

“What is with everyone and the jokes today?” Nick grumbled as he sat down.

It was Nat’s idea to compile her report and hold the debriefing in the interrogation room, something about it was homey to her, reminded her of the red room, that and it was one of the most secure spaces in the Triskelion, Room Five was always used for the more unethical means of interrogation, there were no cameras or microphones of any kind, it gave her ample privacy to work and then rework her report.

“Let’s start off with the events of the past twenty-four hours before you deliver your assessment,” Phil said, opening the file on the desk.

“After walking through the portal we arrived at some kind of compound, I’m not sure of the exact location but I would place it in the middle east. It looked like a temple where monks were learning and training some form of powers. From there we met with someone who called themselves The Sorceress Supreme, someone Evan Edwards showed clear deference to. Using a green gem stored around her neck she was able to transport us through time, to the same location in 1965. From there we were able to assume clothing from the time period before Edwards used another portal that exited in a storage cupboard in Camp Lehigh, Edwards and Richards remained at the Gemini Celebration while Stark and I spliced the data tapes in the server room. Once we had relocated Stark's sons we portaled back to the compound where the same Sorceress transported us through time using the same gem as earlier,”

“And the nanotech suit bracelet around your wrist?” Phil asked as he flicked to the page of the report that detailed how it worked.

“Stark’s design apparently, bulletproof and contains it's own air supply, said he was working on them before we called him in. The one I have was meant for his PA turned business partner Pepper Potts, though I’m not sure how factual that is, he recommended we wear then when jumping through time,”

“The moment we have SHIELD cleared I want that thing down in Tech Research, for now, it’s not to leave your wrist, it’s bad enough that Hydra more than likely has it’s hands all over Phase Two,” Nick ordered.

“Understood,”

“Well Agent Romanoff, do you feel you’ve acquired enough information to make a sound assessment or is more data required,”

“Why don’t you take a look for yourselves?” Nat said flipping to the last page.

 **Anthony Edward Stark**  
Personality Review:  
Mr. Stark displays textbook narcissism, failure to execute covert operations, and a lack of humility.  
He also maintains close familial ties with sons Evan and Reilly, the ability to rapidly adapt to any given situation, and possess the knowledge and self-determination to carry out mission objectives.  
Recruitment assessment for Avenger Initiative:  
Tony Stark: Yes, _proceed with caution._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t have done this without the vibes and support, it’s one thing to want to tell your story and another to know there are people who want to read it.
> 
> I hope you’re all well and doing the best you can right now. Believe me when I say it’s enough.
> 
> <3


	16. And Everyone's Getting A Promotion (None For You Raven)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony is sorry and Fitz is confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone remeber when I said I would be going back to weekly updates?
> 
> Yeah me neither ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“Something’s happening,” Mantis warned as she started to disintegrate into dust, Quill turning around to see Drax slowly fading away.

“Quill?” Drax asked in confusion as Quill looked on in horror.

“Steady Quill,” Tony reached out, panicking as Quill started to turn into ash.

“Oh man,” Was all he said before he was gone.

“Tony,” Stephen called out calmly, “There was no other way,” he finished as he was erased.

“Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good,”

Tony’s voice started to shake as he looked at Peter in terror, “You're all right?”

“I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-,” Peter said, stumbling into Tony’s arms, clutching him tight as he started to cry, “I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go,”

“I'm sorry,” Peter apologized as he turned to dust in Tony’s arms.

**Malibu 2008**   
**Stark Beach House**

“Reilly, are these your boxer briefs or mine?” Harley called out from his new room as Peter walked through the door.

“Are they red? If they are then I’m pretty sure they’re mine,” Peter answered, scooping a pile off the bed before walking back out.

 _‘I’m sure I’ve worn the red ones before,’_ Harley shuddered, maybe they were too close for comfort. He could hardly believe how much had changed in the past few days, a week ago they were unpacking from their trip to Tennessee, now here they were, moving into Tony’s beach house. Both boys had claimed the two rooms closest to Tony’s, abandonment issues be damned.

“Figlio,” Tony said, knocking on the open door, “Dinner’s ready, can you get your brother please?”

“Coming Tony,” Harley answered, putting down the box he was moving as Tony headed back into the direction of the kitchen.

Somehow Peter’s room already managed to look like a Comicon had exploded all over it, it made Harley smile, “Hey dork, Tony said dinner’s ready. Come help me set the table?”

“Coming,” Peter replied as he finished sticking a Star Wars poster onto his wall, “Where’s Raven?” he asked as they made their way towards the dining area.

“Probably around here somewhere,” Harley shrugged.

******

“So is Happy a nickname or…”

“Of course it’s a nickname, who names their kid Happy?”

“Is it supposed to be ironic? Because not to be rude but you’ve got to be one of the least happy people I’ve ever met. Was Grumpy already taken?” Raven grinned from where she was sitting on the lounge with a glass of wine.

“Hilarious kid,”

“And you drive Mr. Stark around?”

“I do a bit more than that,” Happy replied tersely.

“He’s also Head of Security and one of my best friends,” Tony interrupted, walking into the room.

“I am?” Happy asked, confused, “What about James?”

“I said one of my best friends Happy, I can have more than one. Now come on you two, dinner’s ready,”

“Wait a second, Head of Security! What are you talking about?” Happy exclaimed, standing up.

“We’ll talk about it after dinner Hap, the foods getting cold, let’s go Rainbow,”

******

“Hi Aunt Pepper,” Peter said as Pepper walked into the dining room.

“Hi Aunt Pepper, did you get a chance to look at my proposal for app development?” Harley asked as he laid the cutlery out.

“Hi boys, I did, I looked at it today Evan. It’s a good idea I just want to go over a few points before we submit it to the board next week.”

“Pepper!” Happy called out as he entered the room with Tony and Raven, “Did you know anything about me becoming the new Head of Security?”

“I did Happy,” Pepper smiled, “Congratulations!” she said, pulling a bottle of champagne out of her handbag.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Happy said in shock.

“I said the same thing on Monday when Tony told me I was being promoted to COO,” Pepper laughed, “Do you know what he said to me?” she asked as Tony smiled, “Just say yes,”

“I mean yes! Yes of course- thank you Boss, I just, I wasn’t expecting it to be honest,”

“Goodman Hap,” Tony said, clapping him on the shoulder, “We’ll go over everything tomorrow, now let’s eat.”

“So am I only person at this table who didn’t get a promotion this week?” Raven asked as they all sat down.

“Feeling left out Rainbow?” Tony said, pouting his lower lip.

“Well if you’re handing them out I wouldn’t say no,” Raven joked as everyone laughed, piling their plates with carbonara, roasted broccoli, and sautéed spinach.

“Tony is there any more-“ Harley asked before Tony cut him off.

“Yes. Here you go you heathen,” Tony said, placing a bowl of cheese in front of Harley as he rolled his eyes.

******

Tony wasn’t surprised that Happy was the last person to leave after dinner, Pepper heading off first followed by Raven- ecstatic at having the keys to the boy's Stang.

“Boss, I just wanted to say how much it means to me to-“

“Happy, stop gushing, you know you deserve that promotion after all the of the years of shit I put you through,” Tony deflected.

“Boss!” Happy said in frustration, “Would you please just let me finish? This isn’t about the promotion,”

“Oh- uh okay, sure,” Tony nodded.

“What I was trying to say is that it means a lot to me to be considered one of your best friends. You’ve always been my best friend Boss, I guess I always just thought that you never really felt the same,” Happy said in earnest.

“I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to say it,” Tony answered, ashamed, “I know I’ve never really been the easiest person to be around but I’m trying to change and it means a lot to that you’ve stuck by me through it all, you’re family Hap,”

“Thanks Tony,” Happy smiled, “That’s enough of a heart to heart to last the rest of the year,” Happy said in self-deprecation, “I guess I better head off, big day tomorrow.”

“Who are you kidding Hap? We all know you’re dying to head home to watch the latest episode of Downton Abbey,” Tony grinned.

“Downton Abbey?” Happy replied in confusion.

“Don’t play coy, we all know how much you obsess over period dramas,” Tony joked.

“Oh! I haven’t heard of that one yet, I’ll have to check it out,” Happy said as he opened the front door, “Night boss!”

“Jarvis, is there a TV show called Downton Abbey yet? A period drama about the British Aristocracy in the early twentieth century?” Tony asked, walking to the kitchen.

“It would appear not sir,” Jarvis answered as Tony thought to himself.

_‘Shit.’_

“What were you and Pepper talking about before?” he heard as he got closer to the kitchen. Peter was sliding plates into the dishwasher while Harley stood at the sink scrubbing a pan.

“App development for the Stark Phone and software grants,” Harley answered, hands covered in suds, “I want to try and get in with as many software companies as we can to offer them grants to develop apps for the Stark Phone, the actual programs they develop or any income they generate will be theirs but they’ll have to agree to a 24-month non-compete clause to qualify. I’m hoping it’ll put us ahead of Apple before they release their App Store this year,”

“Isn’t that a bit of a dick move?” Peter asked as he poured in the detergent.

“I prefer the term ‘Strategic Business Practices’, what are you and Tony doing tomorrow?”

“Strategic Business Practices?” Tony laughed, “I recognize that level of ruthlessness anywhere, I’m surprised Pepper managed to teach you that one so quickly.”

“She didn’t,” Harley said wistfully, “Not this version of her at least,”

“Huh?” Tony asked, confused.

“After I came back from The Snap I wasn’t ready to jump straight into MIT and Doctor Strange was only free to train me on the weekends. It was alright at first because I’d just hang out with Morgan all day but I think Pepper was worried that when Morgs started going to school I’d just stare off into space alone all day so she asked me if I wanted to go to the office with her to get out of the house,” Harley answered with a far-off look in his eyes, “It gave me something to focus on and Pepper was able to teach me a bit, I always thought that I’d be able to help Morgan with the company when Pepper eventually wanted to retire, in between things at the Academy.”

It was still off-putting for Tony to know that there was this massive part of their lives that he wasn’t there for and it was weirder still that they spent time with Morgan and Pepper that he didn’t. He still wasn’t ready to admit to himself how much it hurt to miss Morgan, he felt guilty about it, felt like it meant he loved his sons less by missing her more, “Have I told you both that I love you today?”

“C’mon man!” Harley complained as he drained the sink, “I’m out here trying to live my best emotionally stunted life and you’re really just gonna pour the feels on me like that?”

“I love you too Mr. Stark!” Peter said, grinning. As far as he was concerned he’d be committing every hug and ‘I love you’ to memory and holding on to it forever.

“Thank you bambino. As for you, emo child- you don’t have to say it back because I already know you love me anyway,” Tony smirked as Harley whipped him with a wet dishcloth.

******

“Sir,”

“Nghhh,”

“Sir,”

“Jarvis? What time is it?” Tony asked, rolling over in bed.

“It 1AM sir,”

“What’s going on Jay?” Tony said, sitting up.

“I believe Master Reilly is in distress,”

“What? I’m coming!”

Jumping out of bed Tony could hear crying coming from Peter's room, his door ajar. Walking in he found Peter shivering as he cried in his sleep.

“Peter?” Tony tried, “Peter, buddy,” he said, softly shaking his shoulder as Harley walked into the room rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Hey Tony,” Harley mumbled as he moved to the other side of the bed, “You have to do it like this,”

Harley slid one of his arms under Peter's neck and slowly propped him up, using his free hand to wipe away his tears, “Reilly, Riles, we’re okay Ry. Tony’s here now, remember? We’re all here together. Follow my voice Reilly, I’ve got you.”

Peter shot up, eyes wide, reaching out to Harley before crying into his shoulder.

“You’re okay Ry, we’re all here,” Harley said, rubbing his back.

“I kno- I know,” Peter hiccupped, “I- I think I forgot, and it felt like I was alone again, blowing into dust,”

“Bambino?” Tony asked, voice raw.

“Hi Mr. Stark, I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” Peter asked, turning his head as it rested on Harley’s shoulder, eyes still watering.

“No, I was awake anyway, couldn’t sleep,” Tony lied, he could see some of the guilt leave Peter’s face.

“It’s okay Ry, do you want some water?” Harley asked.

“Ah- yes please, is that alright?” Peter answered as Harley nodded and got up.

“Were you dreaming about what happened on Titan?” Tony asked gently as Peter wiped his face with the back of his hand, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“They weren’t that bad at the start, after you died, the dreams I mean. I used to only get them if I was stressed or over tiered but when May started to get sick and then after the car crash it started to feel like they were happening every night,” Peter trailed off, embarrassed as he reached forward to wrap his arms around his knees.

“What happens in your dreams bambino?” Tony asked, shuffling onto the bed next to Peter, running his hands through his curls.

“It starts off like how things happened,” Peter’s voice was raw, “We’re on Titan trying to get the gauntlet off Thanos except the Avengers are there as well, the original ones. I-I don’t know how, but you manage to do it,” Peter started to lose focus, eyes dull as Tony wrapped an arm around him, “Y-you put the gauntlet on and your eyes start to turn bright blue, I can hear you screaming… I can hear all the Avengers screaming, it’s like you’re being ripped apart- like The Snap only worse, like you can feel the bonds between your atoms being torn. Then out of nowhere May, Pepper and Morgan are there blowing to dust as well and I’m all alone, I-“

Tony lifted Peter and all but dumped him into his lap, “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to Reilly,”

“I feel like I have nothing left to live for, like I’m worth nothing and the universe starts to rip me apart,” Peter whispered, “They're so bad Mr. Stark, sometimes I wake up screaming,”

“And the other times?” Tony asked, voice breaking.

“Sometimes in the dreams Harley’s there, telling me that I’m not alone and that he’ll always be there for me,” Peter answered softly, “That’s normally when I wake up to him talking to me, I don’t know what I’d do without him Tony, he’s the only one that’s never left,”

The fact that he wasn’t there for Peter or Harley in the end made Tony’s insides twist.

“Who’s this Harley person you guys are talking about?” Harley asked, walking into the room with a glass of water, “He sounds pretty awesome,” he smirked, “I bet he’s good looking too,”

“He is,” Peter said earnestly, reaching for the glass Harley was holding out for him, “I love you Evan,”

“Gross,” Harley smiled as his face softened, leaning forward to rub one of Peter’s arms, “I love you too fratellino,”

Tony could feel the knot in his stomach start to loosen, he knew that no matter what happened to him the boys would always have each other.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you both know Italian?”

“Because you’re Italian?” Both boys answered in confusion as if it was obvious.

“Oh,” Tony said in surprise.

“Can you stay until I fall asleep?” Peter asked hopefully, setting down his now empty glass, “Just for tonight? Please?”

“It doesn’t have to be just for tonight bambino, it can be any night you want,” Tony answered as he pulled the covers back.

“Just don’t get drool on my hair again,” Harley said, nudging Peter towards the middle of the bed as he slid in, “Anywhere else is fine-“

“ _But not the hair,_ I know” Peter yawned, snuggling in between Tony and Harley.

“Sogni d'oro bambino,”’

“Love you Dad,” Peter mumbled, soft snores filling the room.

“Well that didn’t take him long,” Tony said confused, turning to Harley with his eyebrow raised.

“It never does if they’re really bad,” Harley answered in concern, brushing a curl out of Peter’s face.

“He told me he can hear you calling out to him when he’s dreaming, that it helps him find his way out?”

“May taught me how to it when she started getting sick,” Harley said offhandedly, “Her and Ben used to have to do it every night after Richard and Mary died,”

“I’m sorry kid,”

“Huh?” Harley asked as Tony reached over to hold his hand.

“I’m sorry for leaving you Harl,”

“What are you talking about?”

“If there was any other way or if I had the time to figure something else out I would have never chosen to leave you all behind,” Tony blurted, his heart pounding.

“We know Tony, it’s okay,” Harley squeezed his hand in emphasis.

“I’m so proud of you Harley,” Tony said seriously as Harley looked down self-consciously, “I’m lucky that you’re my eldest and I’m proud of you for looking after Peter and Morgan,”

“It’s okay Tony, just please try not to make me do it again?” Tony could hear Harley’s voice start to wobble and for a second it made him think that he was no better than Howard when it boiled down to it, both choosing their versions of saving the world over being a father.

_‘Fuck.’_

“Never again kid, I promise,”

“Okay,” Harley nodded, unsure if he believed him or not.

**The Triskelion**   
**DC**

“Coffee Agent Fitz?” Maria asked, holding out a coffee cup in one hand as Fitz picked it up without looking away from his display.

“Ta,” Fitz thanked, eyes bloodshot and hair frizzing at the ends as he took a large swig.

“Ah, be careful it’s-“ Maria was cut off as Fitz started choking, spitting coffee out all over himself, “hot,” she finished as he tried to blow on his tongue, “Are you okay Fitz?”

“Uh-huh,” Fitz answered as he used his free hand and a napkin to dab the spilled coffee on his shirt.

“Agent Fitz!” Fury exclaimed as he burst through the door causing Fitz to jump and pour more hot coffee on himself, screeching, “Ah! There’s nothing like the smell of fear in the morning,”

“Sir,” Maria greeted, rolling her eyes as she handed over the day’s mission briefings, “For the time being we’ve moved all sensitive and high priority ops over to paper and need to know only,”

“How long do you think it’s going to be until we have everything we need to start making moves against Hydra Agent Fitz?” Coulson asked as he walked into the room reading an open file.

“Around six,” Fitz mumbled, back to staring at his display, coffee-stained shirt forgotten.

“Six weeks?” Maria clarified, “That should be enough time for us to make some decent headway before Stark does his three-month server sweep,”

“Wha? No, not weeks,” Fitz answered, distracted by the lines of code sweeping across the screen.

 _“Six days?”_ Maria asked, impressed, “We could have the majority of SHIELD cleared by the three-month mark if we can start in six days.”

“Days? What are you talking about?” Fitz replied, finally turning around from the station he was working at to exhale, “We should have everything we need by six pm.”

“What?” Maria asked in shock as Fury dropped the file he was reading to stand up.

“Agent Fitz, if we have everything we need by midnight tonight then tomorrow morning we'll be discussing your promotion,” Fury said as Phil and Maria went wide-eyed before he started laughing, “Well what do you know? Turns out I do like jokes,”

“But I thought you said that you hated-“ Fitz tried pointing out.

“Don’t tell me what I said,” Fury stared at Fitz aggressively as he walked towards the door, “And wear a clean shirt tomorrow or you can kiss that promotion goodbye.”

Fitz turned to Maria and Phil once the door had closed, “What just happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout outs to
> 
> Elizabeth527  
> kjoboo  
> Harlan_Malkavian  
> JudithAS  
> GabesGurl  
> bitofageek  
> And last but by no means least mathmf
> 
> Whenever I'm feeling stuck or uninspired or want to give up I always go back to reread your comments to get me through <3


	17. And They Have Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mumbled insults, prophetic nicknames, IUPAC rules and chrysanthemums.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's ya boi, PurpleSummer666, the triple six stands for Satan.

It was nearing eight-thirty by the time Harley got to SI the next morning, rushing across the foyer balancing boxes on his way to Pepper’s office to go over his notes before the board meeting.

“Ooft,” Harley grunted as he slammed into something solid, “Shit I’m sorry, I need to start looking where I’m going,” he huffed as the person in front of him turned around to reveal none other than Beck.

“Please don’t feel the need to apologize Doctor Edwards, you can run into me anytime you like,” Beck grinned with an annoying half-smile.

 _“Oh for fucks sakes,"_ Harley mumbled under his breath.

“I’m sorry?” Beck asked in confusion.

“I said how are you today?” Harley answered, plastering on a smile.

“A lot better now,” Beck winked.

_“Gross,”_

“Huh?”

“I said I should go, I have a presentation at nine-thirty I need to get ready for,” Harley shook the boxes he was holding as if to emphasize his point.

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry,”

 _‘Thank you Jesus,’_ Harley thought as Beck looked like he was going to move.

“Here, let me help, where do you need to go?” Beck asked as he grabbed two of the boxes Harley was carrying.

_“Fuck you Satan,”_

“What was that?”

“I said thank you Quintin,” Harley quickly covered as Beck wore a dopey grin.

“Wait, aren’t these the elevators to the Executive Level?” Beck questioned as they came to a stop.

“Yup,” Harley answered as the doors dinged open.

“Good morning Evan,” Pepper smiled, stepping out onto the foyer level.

“Morning Aunt Pepper, I thought we were going over the proposal in your office?”

“We are, I’ve just got to run across to Legal to sign some paperwork, I’ll meet you up there, fifteen minutes max,” Pepper said as Harley and Beck stepped into the elevator, “Do you think your Dad will make it to the board meeting?”

“I doubt either him or Reilly will be up before noon, he might be here for the Investor Presentation this afternoon though,”

“That’s good enough for me,” Pepper replied as she walked off, heels clicking.

“Your Dad’s on the Board?” Beck asked as the doors closed.

“Mhmm,” Harley answered as he counted the seconds until they reached the right level.

“And you call Ms. Potts Aunt Pepper?”

“Uh-huh,”

“Woah,” Beck said in awe as they came to a stop and the doors opened again, “I uh- I knew you were out of my league but I didn’t realize how far,” he stammered putting the boxes on the coffee table before looking down at his thrift store shirt and tie self-consciously, “This was stupid, I should go. Have a good day Dr. Edwards.”

Harley could see Beck rush to the elevator before aggressively pressing the button repeatedly until the doors opened while keeping his head down, _‘What the fuck just happened?’_ he thought to himself.

******

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey,” Tony sing song-ed as he walked into Peter’s room carrying a tray of food, “Well, it’s not actually, I thought coffee and cornetto would help more,” Tony said, shaking Peters leg through the covers.

“Mr. Staaaaaaaaark,” Peter whined, pulling the covers over his head, “Please just a little bit longer, I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“I know bambino,” Tony sighed, “But it’s nearly noon, it’s time for all good boys and girls to be up out of bed carpeing those diems, seizing them days,”

“Uggggggggh, I’m not a kid Mr. Stark,” Peter sulked as he came out from under the blankets.

“I know - but you’ll always be my kid underoos, don’t forget that,” Peter squealed as Tony ripped the warm covers off, “Besides, the sooner you wake up the sooner we can start synthesizing Starkanium so this thing stops trying to kill me,” he said tapping his chest.

“We’re making Starkanium today?!” Peter asked in excitement, “No way, this is epic! I’m going to help create a new element for the first time, this is so cool!” he said jumping out of bed and pulling a sweater on.

“Nah-uh, breakfast first bambino,” Tony chided, “Come on, it was your Nonna’s favorite,”

“Really?” Peter asked, eyeing the tray in a different light before taking a hesitant sip of the coffee, “Mmmmmm this is really good Mr. Stark, what is it?”

“A cappuccino,” Tony smiled, looking at the milk and chocolate powder mustache Peter was wearing, “It’s espresso with frothed milk,”

“I’s re’lly re’lly gud,” Peter mumbled as he stuffed the cornetto in his mouth, before swallowing, “Mr. Stark?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we could go visit my parents tomorrow?” Peter asked hesitantly, “It’s the anniversary of their... of their um-,”

“You bet kid, I’ll talk to Pep to make sure Evan can come with us as well,” Tony slid onto the bed to wrap an arm around Peter, “We can stop at the florist on the way there and get something nice for them,”

“Thanks Mr. Stark, I love you,” Peter said softly.

“I love you too bambino,” Tony replied, kissing Peter’s hair.

******

By the time Morgan was old enough to go to school and Pepper had started dragging Harley to S.I., the company and the board of directors had changed nearly beyond all recognition of what it was now. Harley never understood why Tony complained about the board meetings, all the ones he had even gone to with Pepper were fine. He guessed that once your husband, the cornerstone of a global company died saving half the universe, people started to cut you some slack.

He was barely a minute into his presentation before the interruptions started.

“Stark Industries has no background in consumer electronics, are these phones even going to work?”

“We don’t have any market history either, how do we know people will want to buy them?”

“Why are you delivering this presentation to the board? Where is Mr. Stark? This is a complete waste of our time!”

Pepper looked like she was about to jump in until Harley gave her a small shake of his head. He waited until an awkward silence filled the room before speaking to each board member in turn.

“I’ve been working on prototypes for the last month, they’ve all been connected to the existing network infrastructure we use for our military-grade satellites and targeting systems and tested. They’re ready for mass production and I’ve got boxes of them for you to take home for you and your families as well as for other Stark employees,” Harley said, pointing to the boxes Beck helped him carry up before pulling out a stack of manilla folders and handing them out, “Market research, mobile sales trends of Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Sony Erikson, LG, focus group data, financial risk reports, sales projections, employment security assessments, all topics I’m going to cover and all topics that Mr. Stark trusts me to deliver on.”

Harley took a moment to take a breath before speaking earnestly, “I understand that everyone in this room is worried about the future of the company and under a lot of stress given the situation but I can guarantee you that this is something we’ll be able to pull off and pull off well, cementing SI’s new position globally and building brand loyalty in the consumer market, these phones aren’t the only thing that'll be coming out of R&D in the weeks to follow but they’ll make the biggest impact on consumer opinion.”

Harley could see the moment he broke through to them along the wide smile that Pepper was giving him.

******

“Well done Evan,” Pepper said proudly once they left the board room, “I’m sure your father’s going to be proud, to be honest, I don’t even think I would’ve been able to stay that level headed if they were picking me apart like that.”

“It’s okay Aunt Pepper, I think they’re just scared, I know I would be if something were to suddenly change that would cause me to doubt my ability to support my family.”

“I’m so glad you’re here Evan,” Pepper said, reaching across to put a hand on Harley's shoulder as they waited for the elevator.

“I’m glad you’re here too Aunt Pepper, thanks for giving me a chance,” Harley said softly as Pepper let go of his shoulder to squeeze his hand.

“Attention to my dear employees of Stark Industries,” Tony’s voice rang out across the intercom system, “Your lord and master-“

 _“Mr. Stark!”_ Peter’s voice cut in.

“Quit it kid, - your lord and master would like to invite you along with esteemed members of the press to the West Side Power Site for a history-making event as part of the Investor Presentation in one hour. Pepper if you can hear this please invite esteemed members of the press and Evan if you’re with her bring enough googles for everyone, Rainbow- help him.”

Pepper and Harley could only stare at each other in exasperation as the doors dinged open.

******

By the time Harley made it down to the Innovation Labs to find Raven the entire department seemed to be in a buzz, debating over what the history-making event could be.

“Yo Reyes,” Harley called out as Raven seemed to be leading a group of the research assistants in and out of the PPE storage areas for the Intellicrops.

“Edwards!” Raven said turning around, “Well look who decided to turn up, bit late princess,”

“Bite me, Reyes,” Harley laughed, “Besides, it looks like you had everything under control,” he said noticing the boxes of Stark googles the assistants were loading into the elevators.

“What can I say, I know how to get shit done,” Raven winked as Harley scrunched his face in mock disgust.

“Never wink at me again,” Harley whined, “It’s gross,”

“Says you casanova,” Raven rolled her eyes, “Now let’s get a move on, I want every box of googles we have in storage at the West Side in fifteen minutes,”

“Aye aye Commander Reyes,” Harley saluted with a grin.

“Commander Reyes,” Raven laughed, “I like the sound of that, Space Commander Reyes.”

“Who said anything about space?” Harley asked, eyes narrowed.

“I used to be obsessed with Star Trek when I was growing up, why?” Raven countered, suspicious.

“Huh,” Harley answered as he stopped to think about the version of Raven they met in the future, manning one of the stations at DeLuna base, “That actually makes a lot of sense.”

“What do you know that I don’t?”

“Nothiiiiiiing,” Harley sassed, “Come on Commander Rainbow, let’s go see what the Stark Lord and Master has prepared as entertainment for his village peasants,” he joked as one of the assistants around them snorted.

******

“A week ago I gave a press conference that resulted in the closure of Stark Industries largest division and for that, I want to personally apologize to every employee who's been affected by that decision,” Tony said as silence filled the crowd gathered around where he was standing in the middle of the warehouse on a raised stage with equipment covered in white sheets, “I said that I had become part of a system that was comfortable with zero accountability but I forgot who I was most accountable for; all of you here today, the life and soul of Stark Industries and for that I’m sorry.”

The members of the press present were hanging onto Tony’s every word from the sectioned off space they were allocated near the back, behind the employees.

“Legacy,” Tony started, “What legacy do we want to leave behind? What changes do we want to make on the world? What changes do we want to see? The Weapons Division was born during a time of war when the world needed it. That was over nearly seventy years ago, the world has changed and we need to change with it, it’s time Stark Industries went back to making lives better for everyone instead of longer for some and shorter for others. I want to make this company- _our company,_ a place you can be proud to work at and a place where each and every one of you can leave your own mark on legacy which is why I want to personally guarantee you that no one will be laid off while we restructure the company and that our employee benefits and development programs will not be changing.”

Tony was met with enthusiastic applause from the warehouse laced with cheers and whistles as if a dark cloud was suddenly lifted, “And this is how,” He gestured as Peter pulled the sheets back to reveal a particle accelerator, “I wanted you all to witness the first synthesis of an element theorized by Howard Stark in the seventies.”

The air in the room suddenly shifted, rippling from relief to disbelief and wonder.

“The applications of this element will allow us to branch into new areas of science and technology. Clean energy at a fraction of the cost and size presently known to the world, nanotechnology, holography, medical application, accessible space travel, off-world colonization, removing world hunger and the hope of world peace. All things we’ve dreamed of for years now suddenly so close and within reaching distance, all things I believe we can achieve by 2015.”

Harley looked around to see the press going crazy and the look of shock and awe on employee’s faces, some with water in their eyes and others laughing from excitement.

“If everyone could put their goggles on and move behind the line markers on the ground we’ll be ready to make history,” Tony said as he placed the prism into the unit and moved towards the particle accelerator, “Please welcome to the world element 126, otherwise known… as Hope,” he said, activating the machine as blue light doused the room, “And if the IUPAC doesn’t like it then they can kiss my ass.”

The future looked bright.

******

“What’s up Tones?” Rhodey asked through the phone.

“Can’t I just call to tell you that I love you?” Tony replied.

“I’m sorry Tony, things are bit crazy right now, we’re in the middle of negotiating supply contracts with Hammer Tech,” Rhodes sighed.

“How could you?” Tony gasped.

“Well you didn’t really give us much choice or notice,” Rhodes answered.

“Yeah listen, I’m sorry about that sour patch. Did you manage to read anything in the news about the presentation at SI yesterday?”

“I might have, did Howard actually manage to discover a new element over forty years ago?”

“Apparently. The bastard was a genius, I’ll give him that.”

“How serious were you about the other things though? Nano-tech? Space Travel? Do you really think that’s possible within the next ten years Tones?”

“Well that’s the thing I wanted to talk to you about, I’ve been working on something that should help you with the brass. Can you come around for dinner tomorrow night and take a look?” Tony could here Rhodey exhale loudly.

“That would actually help a lot of people get off my back,”

“Plus, the boys and I miss you platypus, anyway I’ve got to go, we’re visiting Reilly’s parents today,”

“I thought his parents passed away when he was growing up?”

“They did,” Tony answered sadly.

“Oh. Tell him I said hi and give him a big hug from me okay? I’ll see you tomorrow Tony,”

“I will, bye Rhodey,” Tony hung up as he walked towards the front living room where his sons were waiting.

**

Peter walked across the graveyard hand in hand with Tony and Harley, each holding a bouquet of brightly colored flowers before coming to a stop in front of his parents' headstones.

“Hi Mom, hi Dad, it’s me, Peter,” Peter said softly, “You’re probably wondering how I got so old, it’s a long story, I’ll have to tell you when I see you,” he smiled, eyes starting to water as Tony and Harley reached forward to put a hand on each of his shoulders, “This is Harley and Tony, my brother and Dad, I wish you got to meet them,” he said wiping his eyes.

“Peter! Come back here!” A voice called out as all three snapped their heads around to see two adults chasing after a boy who couldn’t have been older than eight before he stopped in his tracks.

“I’m sorry Aunt May, I just really wanna see Mom and Dad, I haven’t seen them since my birthday and I don’t want them to forget me, I’m sorry I got excited and ran away,” the younger Peter said as his lip started to wobble.

“It’s okay Pete, I know you didn’t mean to and don’t worry sweetie, your parents could never forget you,” May said, bending down to kiss Pete on the cheek as Ben seemed to notice that they weren’t alone.

“Hello,” Ben smiled, “Did you know Richard and Mary?” he asked kindly as Peter stood in shock- his eyes watering again.

“Yes, we were quite close Mary, family friends. I’m Tony and these are my sons Evan and Rielly, you must be Ben,” Tony answered, holding a hand out for Ben to shake.

“Tony?” Ben asked as he shook his hand, “Have we met before? You look familiar but I can’t put my tongue on it,”

“I don’t think so, but Mary and Richard often spoke of you and May,”

“Oh, well it’s nice to meet you, thank you for coming to see them,”

“Of course, we weren’t able to make it to the funeral last year, we were in Italy when it happened. Boys? Do you want to say hello?” Tony asked gently.

“Hi Uncle Ben, Hi Aunt May,” Harley said first, before facing Pete and getting down on his knees, “Hi Pete, I’m Evan,”

“Hi,” Pete said shyly.

“H-hi Uncle Ben, Hi Aunt May,” Peter said, tears running down his face as he rushed forward to hug them, much to their surprise.

“Mary and Richard were like family to us,” Tony answered as they looked at him in confusion as to why a twenty-year-old boy they had never met before was latched onto them, “Which I guess means you are too,”

“Well in that case, you hug for as long as you like,” May smiled as she wrapped her arms around Peter to return the gesture.

“I like your flowers,” Pete said to Harley, “They’re pretty colors, what are they called?”

“Thanks bud, they’re called chrysanthemums, in Italia- where we from they’re the flowers you bring when you visit someone who's passed away,” Harley answered fondly.

“Where’s I-tell-li-yah?” Pete asked as he cocked his head to the side.

“It’s in Europe, but Americans call it Italy,”

“I know where Italy is!” Peter said excitedly, “That’s where Aunt May is from!”

“That’s right Pete,” May smiled as Peter let go of her, “And oh, he’s right ,these are beautiful,” she said as Peter let go, taking a closer look at the flowers Tony and Harley were holding, “Wait a second, _I have seen you before,_ you’re Tony Stark!”

“I knew I recognized you,” Ben said in realization.

“Just Tony is okay,”

“I- uh, I didn’t know that you had any children,” May said, like a fish out of water.

“I didn’t want them to grow up in the spotlight,” Tony smiled as he handed the flowers he was holding over to Peter.

“Do you want to give these to your Mom and Dad for me Pete?” Harley asked, holding his flowers out.

Pete looked towards his Aunt and Uncle first to see if it was okay before answering, “Yes please,”

Peter moved over to make space for Pete as they set the flowers down and listened to his younger self talk to their parents. He vowed that they would be the last people this Peter lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed all the feels <3 <3


End file.
